The approval of the EU's Nature Restoration law, which aims to protect biodiversity and restore the continent's ecosystems, was left in the air after Hungary was added to the group of countries earlier yesterday evening critics, thus making a majority in favor of approving it impossible. The Environment Ministers should have put the final stamp on the regulations yesterday, but the file, which already generated reluctance in seven other governments, was blocked pending new work that will find a way out of the text.
During a public debate, the Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius, criticized the situation of "deadlock" in which the regulations now remain and warned that it sends a "disastrous signal" to the rest of the world that harms the credibility of community institutions. "I am deeply concerned not only about the political consequences of not concluding this key agreement, but also about the disastrous signal we would send about the credibility of our institutions," he said.
"The EU will lack the most important tool to fulfill its commitments and obligations", he denounced before pointing out that the club runs the risk of going to the COP16 on biodiversity in October "with empty hands empty".
The law was approved two weeks ago by the European Parliament in a tight vote that overcame a majority rejection by the European People's Party (EPP) and also featured a delicate balance among member states, as seven had problems with the interim agreement . The group formed by Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Belgium and Italy did not have enough strength to block the law at the time, but with the change in Budapest it was enough to avoid a qualified majority in favor.
The Secretary of State for the Environment of Hungary, Aniló Raisz, defended that the protection of nature is a national competence, that its application involves more costs and that it is necessary to seek wider support for the law in the agricultural sector. "We cannot accept more economic and administrative burdens for the agricultural sector, we cannot forget the situation it is in", justified the Italian Deputy Minister of the Environment, Vannia Gava, while Finland also alluded to its costs and Austria pointed to the rejection of some of its states.
Countries such as Germany, France, Portugal, Estonia, Denmark or Ireland intervened in favor of the law, and there was talk of "shame" and "disgrace" for the EU.
