IFA President Tim Cullinan has said that the European Parliament’s environment committee’s rejection of the nature restoration law highlights a failure by the European Commission to take farmer concerns on board.

On Tuesday, the environment committee became the third Parliament committee to vote down the proposed law.

Cullinan stated that the votes raise significant questions on the Commission’s handling of the proposals after announcing them in June of last year.

“The Commission has to go back to the drawing board and revise its approach to what they want to do. Anything to do with land use cannot succeed without the backing of farmers,” he said.

Such a level of rejection is unprecedented in EU legislation, according to the IFA’s director of European affairs Liam MacHale, who called on Brussels to rethink its proposals on nature restoration.

Concerns over impact

The association’s environment chair Paul O’Brien reiterated concerns over the impact the law will have on Irish farmers.

For months, O’Brien has been calling for a detailed impact assessment to be carried out to let farmers know where they will stand if the law passes.

“Farmers recognise the role they can play in supporting nature and are already carrying out measures to do this,” O’Brien commented after the vote.

“However, the lack of clarity on the potential impact of the proposed regulation on farmland and production is very worrying.

“It is vital that a full impact assessment is undertaken to quantify the area of farmland that will be affected to ensure the proposed targets are realistic and fair and are not detrimental to food production,” he said.

Environment committee rejects EU nature restoration law

Nature restoration law must to go ‘back to the drawing board’ - IFA

On Tuesday, the European Parliament's environment committee became the third Parliament committee to vote down the proposed law.