The narrow majority of the restoration regulation was created in the EU when Austrian Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler voted in favor of the proposal.
A crisis began in the Austrian government when the country’s environment minister Leonore Gewessler voted in favor of the EU restoration regulation.
Chancellor of Austria Karl Nehammer said that he would take the decision of the EU environment ministers to the EU Court of Justice. In addition, Nehammer’s Austrian People’s Party ÖVP said it would sue Gewessler for abuse of office. According to Nehammer, the Minister of the Environment had no right to vote in favor of the regulation.
The restoration ordinance’s narrow majority came when Gewessler voted in favor of the motion.
However, Nehammer told Austrian broadcaster ORF that he does not intend to dissolve the government before the parliamentary elections at the end of September.
In March, the EU restoration regulation lost its majority among the member states, when Hungary turned from its supporters to its opponents and Finland also opposed it instead of abstaining previously. After this, the planned vote of the EU environment ministers on the approval of the regulation was cancelled.
In Finland, the majority of the opposition supported the adoption of the restoration decree, but the governing parties and the center opposed it. The new regulation aims to stop the loss of nature, i.e. the reduction of biodiversity.
Source: AP