This is a subscriber-only article
MEPs sitting on the European Parliament’s agriculture committee have been urged to fully reject a proposed EU nature restoration law that would require thousands of hectares of Irish farmland to be rewet or restored if the law passes.
EU farmer group Copa Cogeca wrote to all MEPs who sit on the committee last week ahead of the first in a series of key votes due to take place on the proposals over the coming weeks.
It wants the agriculture committee’s MEPs to fully reject the law before it is voted on by the environment committee, in a vote expected to follow within the next month.
Three Irish MEPs sit on the agriculture committee: Independent Luke Ming Flanagan, Fine Gael’s Colm Markey and Sinn Féin’s Chris MacManus.
Priorities
The farm group laid out six priorities for MEPs to address before the nature restoration law can pass.
Until these key areas of concern are addressed, it wants the European Commission to take the proposals off the table.
The issues highlighted include the funding gap in the proposals, which would require CAP funds be used to pay for biodiversity measures needed to reach the law’s targets.
Copa Cogeca stated that CAP is “already overstretched” and that “concrete” funding must be allocated before targets are set.
Targets must be “realistic and rational” for habitats, including drained peatlands under agricultural use, to prevent farming being “decimated” in areas affected by the law, the group maintains.
Another issue raised as problematic is the “non-deterioration” principle written into the draft law, which suggests that there can be no backsliding once restoration measures are put in place.
Copa Cogeca argued that non-deterioration should only apply to Natura 2000 areas, such as special areas of conservation-designated lands.
The group called for “clearly defined flexibility” in the case of member states being unable to fulfil targets in areas, such as peatland restoration and rewetting, due to climate change.
It also flagged as an issue the fact the committee itself was not handed the lead responsibility on farming elements of the proposed law.
SHARING OPTIONS: