Rome, 17 June. (askanews) – “A bill long opposed by many national governments today concludes its troubled process thanks to just one decisive vote, that of Austria. This is how the EU Environment Ministers gave the green light to the law on nature restoration, with a narrow majority which was only a few hours after the vote. We then certainly find it questionable that this decisive vote was reached with the community institutions de facto at the end credits of the legislature, without the possibility of postponing its discussion having been considered, as happened for other dossiers, after the establishment of the new EU governance”. Thus the president of Confcooperative Fedagripesca Carlo Piccinini comments on the definitive green light given today in Luxembourg by the EU Environment Council to the Law on Nature, which obliges the various member states to implement plans to restore 30% of already degraded natural areas by 2030.
The new community law, which will come into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal, risks, according to President Piccinini, “having serious repercussions on Italian and European agriculture, despite its laudable intentions. The obligation to restore large tracts of land within strict deadlines could put a strain on agricultural productivity, at a time when food security is already threatened by the war in Ukraine.”
“The concerns of farmers, who have repeatedly demonstrated against this law, have not been listened to sufficiently,” continues Piccinini. “The ’emergency brake’ planned for 2033 and the possibility of suspending the application of the rules in the event of serious consequences on food safety appear to be insufficient measures to guarantee the stability of the agricultural sector”.
Italy, “with its rich biodiversity and its thousand-year-old agricultural tradition, risks paying – concludes the president of Confcooperative Fedagripesca – a particularly high price. The imposition of rigid recovery plans could put the production of excellent food products at risk, with serious economic and social consequences for rural communities.”
