On June 17, European Union member states gave the final green light to a law requiring the restoration of damaged ecosystems.
The decision, supported by twenty of the twenty-seven member states at a meeting of environment ministers in Luxembourg, allows this key text of the green pact, already approved by the European Parliament, to enter into force.
The favorable vote of Austria, whose government had chosen to abstain due to divisions within the coalition, was decisive. Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler, of the Greens, however, voted in favour, challenging the conservative chancellor Karl Nehammer, who reacted by calling the gesture illegal and threatening to appeal.
The law, whose adoption was defined as “historic” by the NGO WWF, requires the Twenty-Seven to introduce ecosystem restoration measures on 20 percent of the terrestrial and marine areas of the European Union by 2030, defining action plans national.
The text also pursues other objectives, including improving criteria for measuring the health of forests, removing obstacles to waterways and measures against the decline of bees.
The law was approved on February 27 by the European Parliament, despite fierce opposition from the right and agricultural organisations, with 329 votes in favour, 275 against and 24 abstentions.
However, the final green light had not yet arrived due to the lack of the required majority (at least fifteen states representing 65 percent of the European Union population): three countries had announced their vote against (Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy ) and five abstentions (Belgium, Austria, Poland, Finland and Hungary).
The Austrian Environment Minister’s support for the text made it possible to meet the requirement of 65 percent of the population.
“No government or party can ignore the need to protect the environment and conserve nature,” Gewessler said.
