MEPs voted by majority, this Wednesday, July 12, for the law aimed at restoring ecosystems, the flagship text of the EU’s Green Pact, which has become the emblem of a political battle one year before the European elections. The bill was opposed by right-wing and far-right elected officials.
MEPs will now have to negotiate the content with the Member States. It is a failure for the conservatives of the EPP who had denounced a text harmful to agricultural production and economic activity. At the start of this Wednesday’s voting session, a motion to reject the text proposed by the EPP conservatives had also been rejected by a narrow majority.
Restoration of damaged land and marine areas
This legislation proposed in mid-2022 by Brussels imposes on Member States binding objectives for the restoration of land and marine areas damaged by pollution or intensive exploitation to preserve biodiversity, in line with the COP15 agreement in Montreal.
In particular, the law aims to restore at least 20% of biodiversity habitats in terrestrial and marine areas by 2030. The text is presented as a pillar of the green pact, a set of around fifty projects intended to protect the environment. In addition to the preservation of species, it should also make it possible to fight against global warming. Since there is urgency, the law will be legally binding. Each State will have to submit an action plan. It will have to take into account the seven specific areas identified, such as that of insects.