Irish members of the conservative European People’s Party (EPP) Seán Kelly and Deirdre Clune will not support their group’s rejection of the EU’s Nature Restoration Law, the MEPs announced on Tuesday, less than 24 hours before the decisive vote in the European Parliament.
The EU Nature Restoration Law aims to reverse the drastic decline of Europe’s ecosystems but has faced fierce opposition from the EPP, which wants to reject the EU Commission proposal entirely and send it back to the drawing board in a vote on Wednesday.
However, Kelly, who represents Ireland South, took to Twitter on Tuesday evening to say he would not follow his group’s fierce opposition to the law.
“At the end of the day, one has to do what one thinks is right, and the right thing to do is to vote not to reject, but to look at the proposal and amendments one by one and then I think we can find a very good landing spot,” he said on Twitter.
Clune also announced on Tuesday evening that she would not support the rejection effort.
“I cannot support a full-out rejection,” she wrote on Twitter, adding that she would support the text agreed by EU countries, which has been tabled as part of the amendments.
“I want to see new dedicated funding for farmers because we need to restore nature working alongside our rural communities,” she added.
The make-or-break vote will be exceptionally tight, with EPP dissenters like Kelly and Clune, and centrist Renew Europe lawmakers, who have been split on the issue, likely to decide the outcome.
The session will start with a rejection vote, which Kelly and Clune will now either abstain on or vote against. If the rejection succeeds, it will be the end of the road for the embattled proposal. If the rejection fails, lawmakers will vote on amendments and their overall position for discussions with EU countries on the law.
“We have put down some very, very important and good amendments here in the European Parliament and, if we vote to reject them at the outset, then we won’t even get a chance to vote on those amendments,” said Kelly.
He said that he had chosen not to reject the proposal for a number of reasons, including EU countries doing “a good job” in fixing “some of the worst parts of the proposal” and the support for the law back in Dublin.
Ireland’s government also supported the EU countries’ position on the law. Speaking to EURACTIV after the decision, Irish Environment Minister Eamon Ryan said the EPP needs to ask itself whether it wants to be the party which stops nature restoration or become part of the solution.
(Kira Taylor | EURACTIV.com)
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