Did the EU Council ride roughshod over the established procedures governing member states voting to finalise legislation, The Dealer wonders?

Monday saw a solo run from Austria’s Green environment minister to vote in favour of the Nature Restoration Law, despite the country’s governing coalition’s plans to abstain and leave the law without the majority it needed to pass.

This minister now faces legal charges from members of her own government, who accuse her of acting criminally. There have also been suggestions that the Nature Restoration Law could be challenged in the European Court of Justice as a result of the vote.

It doesn’t sound to The Dealer like this key piece of Green Deal legislation relied on the consensus and democratic principles on which the EU was founded, even if the minister is legally in the clear.