Veto from Salzburg: EU proposal to restore nature rebuffed
President of the Landtag Brigitta Pallauf will submit a nationwide statement on the EU proposal “Restoration of nature”. The Committee of the Regions met in Brussels on the subject of renaturation.
SALZBURG. The meeting of the Commission for the Environment in European Committee of the Regions in Brussels was highly explosive on Friday. The EU Commission’s proposal for a regulation entitled “Restoration of nature” is on the agenda.
Salzburg and other federal states see this critical proposal. According to Brigitta Pallauf, President of the Landtag, who represented Salzburg at the committee meeting, Article Nine in particular can lead to the loss of agricultural and farmland in Salzburg.
Goal: renaturing ecosystems
The EU Commission will prescribe generally applicable, measurable indicators for agricultural ecosystems. It was proposed that 80 per cent of Europe’s habitats in poor condition should be restored and all ecosystems restored – from forest and agricultural land to marine, freshwater and urban ecosystems. By 2030, at least 20 percent of land and sea areas should be covered by EU restoration measures, and by 2050 they should be extended to all ecosystems in need of restoration.
The immense importance of biodiversity is not to be downplayed with the Salzburg veto, says von Pallauf, but with 52 percent organic farming, Salzburg is the frontrunner in all of Europe and is already making a significant contribution to safeguarding biodiversity.
Issue with “Regulations regardless of region”
“Regulations that apply across all regions cannot address regional characteristics and needs,” says Pallauf. “We found that our concerns are being discussed and shared in other regions of Europe.” The nine federal states have already submitted their points of criticism to the federal government in a state statement, says the state parliament president.
“The control of biological diversity in the planned form is associated with considerable personnel and financial expenditure in the administration and for the property owners concerned.”
President of the Landtag Brigitta Pallauf
Amendments tabled for all federal states
Furthermore, the Commission does not take into account the competences of the federal states, which is why the Austrian federal states should reject the statement, said Pallauf, who introduced amendments for all federal states in the statement procedure on Friday.
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