Negotiations on EU nature law to start July 19

Negotiations between EU institutions on highly contentious new rules to restore nature will start on July 19, European Parliament environment committee chair Pascal Canfin tweeted Thursday.

The announcement comes after the Parliament narrowly adopted its common position on the text during a nerve-wracking vote in plenary on Wednesday, paving the way for negotiations to start with the Council of the EU on a final deal.

The Commission’s legislative proposal, presented a year ago as part of the EU’s Green Deal, wants to force EU countries to implement measures to restore at least 20 percent of the EU’s degraded land and sea areas by 2030.

It has come under fire from conservative politicians, who pushed hard to get MEPs to reject the bill, arguing that it will have detrimental impacts on food production and the rollout of renewable energy projects.

Member countries adopted their joint stance on the proposal in June. The Parliament used the Council’s general approach as the basis for its compromise text, meaning their positions are not far apart and talks could be concluded relatively quickly.

Spain, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council, has signaled it wants to conclude negotiations on the file before the end of the year.