Row with legs apart. “Agree” and disagree on the key EU law on damaged nature

The future of the EU law on the restoration of natural resources hangs in the balance – The vote, which seemed like a formality, lacked the required majority of EU countries. Poland, next to, among others, Hungarian, is in the group that does not support the regulations.

The EU regulation was to be the basis for better protection and reconstruction of damaged ecosystems: drained wetlands, dug rivers, degraded habitats. It was about protecting water resources, nature important for agriculture and more, and greenery in cities. After weakening some of the original assumptions, a compromise was agreed to by the European Parliament and EU countries. However, in the final stages, Hungary withdrew its support, and Donald Tusk’s government did not change the PiS position and did not support the law. so that the regulation does not fail, but at the moment its future hangs in the balance.

The government both supports and justifies the opposition

We asked the Prime Minister’s Office about the reasons for the government’s decision not to support the law. In the response sent by the Ministry of Climate and Environment, the government seems to be taking a step back – they are simultaneously declaring support for nature protection and trying to justify their opposition to the regulation.

As we read in the response, “the government agrees with the need to introduce effective measures to protect and restore natural resources.” In it, the Ministry writes about the “undisputable importance of biodiversity” and the “key” role of natural balance and sustainable development. And in the next sentence he justifies his opposition to EU nature protection law.

According to the government, “the draft EU regulation did not meet social expectations and its assumptions did not avoid discrepancies.” The Ministry does not elaborate on the issue of “meeting social expectations”. It is worth adding, however, that subsequent surveys show that the vast majority of Poles support nature protection. The government further writes that “justified doubts related to the adoption of the assumptions of the draft regulation were raised by issues of financing and agriculture, not only in Poland, but also in the entire European Union.”

Finally, the communique stated that “Poland hopes that work on the project will be undertaken in order to reach a more satisfactory compromise of 27 countries and introduce regulations that will enable the implementation of the ambitious goals included in the 2030 Biodiversity Strategy.” The question is, however, whether such “hope” is at all realistic. The regulation in its current form is the result of several years of work and compromises, and has already been formally voted by the European Parliament. Changes in its content could mean opening the entire process anew.

The website describes that a group of countries supporting the law is trying to gather the required support (currently it has the vote of countries representing 64 percent of citizens, and the required majority is 65 percent) and pass the regulation. If this cannot be done by June, the chances will become slim. After the elections, a new European Parliament and Commission will be formed (possibly with a more conservative profile), and Hungarians will take over the EU presidency in the second half of the year.

Experts clearly in favor

The newly established State Council for Nature Protection, which is an opinion-giving and advisory body in the field of nature conservation at the Minister, supported the adoption of the regulation. In its first opinion, the Council indicates that “the proposed regulation will be beneficial for the effective protection of Polish nature, and at the same time may bring significant positive economic effects.”

There are many myths surrounding the law, including: that the requirement to renaturalize drained peatlands will mean forced irrigation of hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland belonging to private farmers. As the ClientEarth organization explains, this has nothing to do with reality. It is a fact that the law requires the re-irrigation of drained land, but even hundreds of hectares of such land are managed by the state (either in the State Forests or the National Agriculture Support Center). “In the Biebrza National Park alone, there are approximately 40,000 hectares of peat bogs, largely used for agriculture, which are not so-called Natura 2000 natural habitats,” says the organization. This means that the objectives of the law could be met without interfering with land in the hands of private farmers, although they could also be encouraged to do so.

In the opinion of environmental non-governmental organizations, the rejection of the Nature Restoration Law will be a waste of a historic opportunity to improve the health of Europeans, secure stable conditions for food production and ensure the long-term development of the European economy.

– we read in a statement by a group of non-governmental organizations. 50 such organizations appealed to the Ministry of Climate and Environment to support the law.