Farmers and environmentalists: two demonstrations and a controversial EU nature law

Two clashing rallies, with political overtones and opposing demands, raised their voices this Tuesday in front of the European Parliament of Strasbourg to, on the one hand, defend and, on the other, denounce the controversial Law of the Restoration of Nature on the eve of his final vote in the eurochamber.

In front of the entrance of the European Parliament, while the MEPs debated the proposal in the hemicycle, the Committee of Community Agricultural Organizations and Cooperatives (Copa-Cogeca) -representing the large agricultural holdings of the European Union (EU)- brought together more of a hundred people against the bill with the support of popular, conservative and ultra-right.

At the same time, a few hundred meters away and competing for the attention of the cameras, groups such as WWF, Oceana or the European Environmental Office -the largest European network of environmental organizations-, with the support of social democrats, Greens, Left and the majority of the liberals, asked for a vote in favor of the position of the European Parliament to start negotiating with the EU countries.

The groups against the proposal

Copa-Cogeca opposes this law -which seeks to restore 20% of damaged terrestrial and marine ecosystems by 2030 and all of them by 2050- and ensures that “will expel” to the farmers and producers of their lands, “will put them out of business and eliminate the agriculture from rural areas” European.

At a press conference, the president of the European People’s Group, Manfred Weber, insisted that his party is not opposed to restoring nature, but to the current proposal of the Commission and affirmed that it would be “even an obligation” for Brussels to present an alternative text if the legislation prospers us tomorrow, an extreme that the Community Executive rules out.

“This is proof that we are not a machine for passing bad legislation. We ask for the rejection of the Commission’s proposal and a new proposal. We don’t want to stop or block it, we want a solid discussion.” stressed the popular leader, who for a few months has led the campaign to reject this law.

From early in the morning, around forty tractors, mobilized by the agricultural employers, blocked the road in front of the European Parliament to accompany the demands of their sector, which defends that the text proposed by Brussels “it is ill-conceived and lacks clear funding.”

“What we are against is the text, not the restoration of nature. From the beginning there has been no dialogue with farmers, it has been to prohibit for the sake of prohibiting without scientific support and without offering alternatives”warned the political assistant of the Asaja agrarian organization, Santiago Campos.

Environmental organizations say yes to the law

A few meters from this concentration, a multitude of NGOs in defense of the environment advocated precisely the opposite: not only to vote in favor of the Nature Restoration Law, but also a greater ambition to achieve climate neutrality objectives.

With banners with messages like “without nature there is no food” either “protect, restore and recover nature”, environmental activists urged politicians to defend nature to ensure the well-being of future generations.

This concentration was also joined by the young climate activist Greta Thunberg with a message for the deputies who still doubt what to vote for this Wednesday: “Being on the right side of history or history will judge you harshly if you choose to side with destructive interests and big lobbies and not people and planet.”

In this sense, the leader of the Social Democrats, Iratxe García, denounced the “irresponsibility” of the PPE, since, he warned, “You are joining the deniers of the climate change”.

García accused the popular of blocking the bill and of “opposite” to the interests of farmers and ensured that the sector “He is not concerned with the policies that support the fight against climate change, but with its effects.”

The law faces its great litmus test tomorrow, the vote in the plenary session of the Eurochamber where a more than adjusted result is expected; a potential rejection would knock down the proposal of the European Commission.

Source: EFE