Initially divided on the issue, Austria did not wish to support this law. However, during a press conference held on Sunday, the Green Minister of the Environment, Leonore Gewessler, announced that she was now in favor. She plans to vote in favor of the law on Monday, during the meeting with her European counterparts in Luxembourg.
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Despite this change in extremis, the outcome of the vote remains uncertain, as there is no guarantee that the law will receive the required majority of EU member states. Slovakia, in particular, could defect and deprive the law of the majority essential for its entry into force.
Symbol of the fight for the protection of the environment and the climate, the law on the restoration of nature has become a major political issue in recent years, crystallizing the opposition between environmental defenders and supporters of a less binding. Farmers, in particular, are concerned about the impact of new environmental regulations on their farms, already subject to constraints considered strict. Defenders of the law, for their part, emphasize the importance of acting to preserve biodiversity, essential to the fight against climate change.
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The latter strongly hope that the law will be adopted during the month of June. Indeed, Hungary, which will take over from Belgium as president of the Council of the EU in two weeks, is much less favorable to the text. In addition, a new European Commission is about to take office, and it seems to want to adopt a less ambitious climate and environmental policy.
