At least one fifth of the EU’s land and sea area should be protected by 2030. At the same time, ecosystems such as forests and moors are to be restored. This is provided for in a regulation currently being discussed in Brussels. Concerns come from many countries – including Germany, where the energy transition should not be impaired.
Among other things, the EU Commission wants to ensure that rivers are given more space, forests are converted into semi-natural forests and soils are restored to protect biodiversity. Moore, which are to be rewetted, are in turn important for climate protection – as CO₂ storage.
However, there is a fear that the ambitious goals for species protection could slow down the energy transition. The objection is that if a comprehensive environmental impact assessment has to be carried out before the construction of a power line, this could delay the planning. As it was said from EU diplomatic circles, the German energy transition also plays a role in the current deliberations on the regulation.
The reason for fears that the EU Commission’s proposal could delay the energy transition lies in a detail of the Brussels proposal. According to the EU authority’s plan, the situation with regard to biodiversity must not deteriorate in the future, even outside of the existing protected areas – the so-called “Natura 2000” network.
Jan-Niclas Gesenhues, environmental policy spokesman for the Greens in the Bundestag, considers such concerns to be unfounded. “I don’t see a conflict with the energy transition,” he told the Tagesspiegel. “But one thing is clear: space is scarce overall – also because more and more is being concreted over”.
If no remedy is found in view of the land use, “conflicts of use between nature conservation, agriculture and commercial areas will increase during renaturation,” is the prognosis of the Green politician. He therefore expects the planned EU regulation to “provide answers as to how renaturation and agricultural use can also take place together”. “In any case, there is no way around renaturation if we still want to save our badly damaged nature,” said Gesenhues.
Bernhard Krüsken, General Secretary of the German Farmers’ Association, made it clear last week that farmers in Germany are critical of the plans of the EU Commission. At a hearing in the Environment Committee of the Bundestag, he spoke of a “land grab” in view of the EU plans, which would lead to a devaluation of land. This is an infringement of property rights.
According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, however, the economic situation of farmers is better than such lawsuits suggest. As the ministry announced, in the 2021/22 financial year there was a sometimes strong increase in profits for companies of almost all types of business – from arable farming to animal husbandry to mixed farms. The reason given is a sharp rise in prices for many agricultural products since the second half of 2021, which also compensated for the significantly higher input prices.
The opposition, meanwhile, has fundamental objections to rigid EU specifications for species protection. The EU Commission’s proposal for the renaturation of ecosystems is an “encroachment on municipal planning sovereignty,” said CDU member of the Bundestag Klaus Mack.
EU Presidency wants agreement before the end of this six-month period
If municipalities were to fulfill tasks in the settlement of industry in the sense of short supply chains, housing construction and the accommodation of refugees, the question arises as to how municipal development should still be possible in view of the rigid EU requirements, said the former mayor of the Baden-Württemberg town of Bad Wildbad.
The current Swedish EU Presidency is aiming for an agreement on the regulation before the end of this six-month period. However, it is uncertain whether this will succeed. “There are still many hurdles to be overcome in the dossier,” said EU diplomatic circles, with a view to the tough deliberations in the EU Council of Environment Ministers.
In addition to Germany, the Netherlands are also among the countries that want to advance the protection of forests and moors in principle, but have requests for changes in detail. Open spaces are particularly scarce there because of the high population density and intensive agriculture.
In the Netherlands, farmers have repeatedly shown that they have a strong lobby. Most recently, thousands of farmers gathered in The Hague in March to protest against the government’s plan to drastically reduce nitrogen emissions. Frans Timmermans, Vice President of the EU Commission and responsible for the community’s “Green Deal”, is also aware of the power of Dutch farmers. He is from the Netherlands himself.
