To begin with: what exactly does Timmermans’ European Nature Restoration Act entail? The European Commission states that more than 80 percent of nature in Europe is in poor condition.
Timmermans has presented a major plan to rectify this. This states, among other things, that all European countries must have taken measures by 2030 to restore at least 20 percent of the damaged nature in their own country.
Countries may designate those areas themselves, but there are some additional conditions. For example, there must be more biodiversity on agricultural land, cities must become greener and pesticide use must decrease so that insects can pollinate plants again.
Stick behind the door
“This Nature Restoration Act is necessary to ensure that countries actually restore their nature,” says ecologist Patrick Jansen of Wageningen University. The Netherlands agreed thirty years ago to reverse the global loss of biodiversity. But if you don’t make hard agreements about that, something like that remains non-binding.”
According to Jansen, biodiversity ultimately loses out, compared to economic interests, for example. “This law offers guarantees that promises countries have made will actually be fulfilled.”
According to Jansen, this restoration of nature is also crucial. “Many of our ecosystems are under pressure, but we desperately need it as humans. Just think of the insects that have to pollinate our flowers. Many insects are having a hard time and that can directly affect our crops.”
‘The Netherlands locked’
But not everyone is enthusiastic about Timmermans’ plan. This is mainly due to the ‘prohibition of deterioration’ that is stated in the law. This means that, for example, building homes or agriculture may not have any negative effects on nature areas.
This already applies to the so-called Natura 2000 areas. Due to too much nitrogen emissions, many projects in those areas are no longer allowed to proceed. This would now apply to all nature reserves. “And that is far too drastic”, a spokesperson for the Netherlands’ Agricultural and Horticultural Organization (LTO) told RTL Nieuws.
LTO: ”Let’s start by saying that we are in favor of nature restoration. But this law misses the mark. This is an accumulation of policies that make it impossible to carry out agriculture.”
The deterioration ban has been criticized so much that Timmermans already proposed a compromise last week. Instead of an ‘obligation of results’, there should only be an ‘obligation to make an effort’ to ensure that nature does not deteriorate when building houses or agriculture.
However, for many opponents this does not go far enough. They fear that European judges will still be able to oblige countries to ensure that nature reserves are not allowed to deteriorate.
MEP Jan Huitema (VVD) gave earlier at the radio program This is the Day already indicated that he wants to be sure that this will not be ‘a nitrogen crisis 2.0’ for the Netherlands. He therefore votes against the law.
‘Nature restoration is not nature conservation’
Bas Eickhout, MEP on behalf of GroenLinks, votes for the law. Eickhout: ”The law is crucial for improving nature in Europe, which is in a deplorable state.” Eickhout also does not expect that we will be locked down by the law.
“The proposal leaves a lot of room for national interpretation,” says Eickhout. “Nature restoration is not nature conservation. The extra efforts will be limited for the Netherlands and there will still be sufficient room for economic activities in the future. The specters of other parties are incorrect.”
Ecologist Jansen adds that we actually benefit from this economically in the long term. Scientists indicate that nature restoration is necessary to make agriculture and the economy future-proof. For example, loss of biodiversity also harms the cultivation of fruit and other crops that are fertilized by insects.”
It is a thought that is supported by a large collective of European companies. They argue that we ‘need nature for our food production’ and that this is at risk in the longer term if we do nothing now.
Long voting procedure
Today, the European Parliament’s Environment Committee will first vote on the Nature Restoration Act. These are 88 members, including Huitema and Eickhout. The result seems to be really tense. But they are not the only ones voting on it: Member States will individually determine their position on Tuesday, and in July the entire European Parliament will vote on the law.
Yet everyone is watching this morning’s vote. If the law is rejected, it will be a setback for Timmermans. Nothing is final, but in order to steer the proposal through the European Parliament, the European Commissioner seems to have to weaken his nature restoration law even further.
2023-06-15 04:00:04
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