Agreement on nature restoration law: Important signal to transform farming

Negotiators from the European Parliament and Council reached a final agreement on the Nature Restoration Law (NRL). As European organic movement, we welcome this milestone for nature and biodiversity. The agreement covers all ecosystems originally foreseen, returning restoration of agricultural ecosystems to the text.

Even though the Parliament and Council weakened the law’s targets set out in the Commission’s proposal, we are pleased to see it recognises the importance of restoring pollinator populations and protecting biodiversity on farmland for resilient food production.

Contrary to the Parliament’s position, the final agreement includes targets for agricultural land again. Given the preceding aggressive campaign against the Nature Restoration Law, and in particular against the targets for agriculture, its approval sends an important signal about the importance of healthy ecosystems for sustainable and resilient agricultural systems.

However, the text includes a new addition, the so called ‘emergency brake’. This gives Member States the possibility to suspend the law’s implementation related to agricultural ecosystems in the event of unforeseeable and exceptional events outside of the EU’s control and with severe EU-wide consequences for food security.

The agreement was voted and approved by the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (COMENVI). As final step, the Plenary of the European Parliament will vote on the law and the Council has to approve it.

Afterwards, each Member State has to restore nature on agricultural land by implementing systemic solutions to achieve the law’s targets, for example using and promoting organic farming and other agroecological practices.

For more information on our work on the NRL, please contact [email protected]. Do note that we prioritise our members’ requests.