MEPs approve Nature Restoration Law amid right-wing backlash and farmer protests

The law received 329 votes in favour, 275 against and 24 abstentions, a margin larger than initially expected. The outcome prompted applause and cheers from socialists and green MEPs as their right-wing colleagues stood quiet.

The vote was closely watched as it took place amid farmer protests, who have made the European Green Deal one of its main objects of criticism.

Still, the law approved on Tuesday had been heavily watered down during negotiations and lacks the ambition of the original proposal. The text will now go to the Council, where member states will hold the final vote.

The Nature Restoration Law aims at rehabilitating at least 20% of the European Union’s land and sea areas by 2030 and all degraded ecosystems by 2050. It establishes obligations and targets on different fields of action, such as farmlands, pollinators, rivers, forests and urban areas, to gradually reverse the environmental damage caused by climate change and unchecked human activity.

First presented by the European Commission in June 2022, it gained further significance after the landmark biodiversity agreement sealed at COP15.

But last year, the law became the target of a fierce opposition campaign by conservatives, particularly by the European People’s Party (EPP), the Parliament’s largest formation. The EPP repeatedly claimed the bill would threaten the livelihoods of European farmers, disrupt long-established supply chains, decrease food production, push prices up for consumers and even wipe out urban areas to make way for green spaces.

The arguments were strongly contested by left-wing groups, the European Commission, dozens of NGOs, thousands of climate scientists, the renewable industry and big businesses like IKEA, H&M, Iberdrola, Unilever, Nestlé and Danone, all of whom insisted the goal of restoring nature was compatible with economic activity and essential to ensure the long-term viability of European soils.

The EPP-led push to derail the Parliament’s common position failed in July after a handful of conservatives rebelled and broke ranks to vote in favour of the draft law. This allowed MEPs to enter negotiations with the Council and reach a provisional agreement in November, which was expected to be rubber-stamped by both institutions.

However, the eruption in January of Europe-wide farmer protests reinvigorated the backlash against the Green Deal, as the agriculture sector directly blamed the bloc’s environmental regulations as a reason for excessive bureaucratic burden.

The Nature Restoration Law, which had largely faded into the background, was once again thrust to the centre of the political storm.

“We still believe the Nature Restoration Law is badly drafted and was never up to the task in front of us,” Manfred Weber, the EPP’s chairman, said on Tuesday ahead of the vote.

“Inflation is today driven by the rise of food prices in supermarkets. We have to ask our farmers to produce more and not less to stabilise inflation.”

Pedro Marques, from the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), struck back against the claims and accused the conservatives of spreading “disinformation.”

“This idea they’re voting (against the law) because they care for the farmers. This is absolutely unacceptable. This is just populistic. This is misleading the Europeans and certainly our farmers,” Marques said.

“Denying the Green Deal, denying the climate emergency is certainly not the way to solve our problems.”

The survival of the law is a sigh of relief for the Green Deal, which is under growing pressure from right-wing and liberal parties, the agriculture sector and industry associations. Earlier this month, Ursula von der Leyen decided to withdraw a contentious bill designed to reduce by half the use and risks of pesticides by 2030.

“Only if our farmers can live off the land will they invest in the future. And only if we achieve our climate and environmental goals together, will farmers be able to continue to make a living,” the Commission president said.

“Our farmers are well aware of this. We should place more trust in them.”

This piece has been updated with more information about the vote.