It's one of the flagship laws of the European Commission's New Green Deal: the Nature Restoration Act, designed to restore damaged natural areas. On Tuesday July 11 and Wednesday July 12, the European Parliament in Strasbourg held a crucial vote on the future of this law. Here's the story...
Tuesday, July 11, 8 a.m.
In front of the European Parliament, two demonstrations begin: one by supporters, the other by opponents. What are they about? The Nature Restoration Law.
This text, essential in the fight against biodiversity loss and soil artificialisation, as well as against global warming - living soil absorbs greenhouse gases - was proposed by the European Commission as part of the "green pact", the ongoing nature conservation policy promoted by the institution.
However, on Tuesday June 27, in the European Parliament's specialized committee on the environment, the law failed to win a majority (44 votes in favor, 44 against), following rejections from EPP (right-wing) and far-right MEPs. This was due in particular to a controversial passage on increasing the ecosystem value of agricultural land by 10%, perceived by the right as a loss of 10% of agricultural land.
The law will therefore be put before the full plenary session of deputies on July 11 and 12. At stake? Definitive abandonment of the law in the event of a majority "no" vote, or continuation of work on the law in the event of a "yes" vote. The vote promises to be very close.
So, before the debates, at 8 a.m., the two camps each asserted their positions in two demonstrations of a few hundred people each: against the law, the European productivist agricultural unions, including the French FNSEA; for the law, environmental activists from all over Europe, and left-wing MEPs (notably Yannick jadot, from the Europe Écologie Les Verts party and the Greens/EFA group, and Manon Aubry, France Insoumise, the Left).
It was around 9:30 am when the French, German and Polish environmental activists received the support of their Swedish figurehead: 20-year-old Greta Thunberg, who came to defend the resolution, quickly surrounded by a swarm of journalists.
In red, center, Manon Aubry, LFI member of the European Parliament. On the left, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.
At 9 a.m., the two demonstrations came to an end. Journalists and activists calmly dispersed, watched over by the police. The battle begins in the European Parliament.
The next day, Wednesday July 12, the vote took place. The results were announced in a tense atmosphere: 649 voters, 13 abstentions, 300 against and 336 for, a narrow victory of 13 votes for the left. However, if the law is saved, it will most certainly be amended by the right-wing/far-right alliance with the aim of weakening it. With one year to go before the European elections, this law marks the start of what promises to be a tense campaign...
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