At a time when protests by farmers opposing the implementation of the restrictive provisions of the Green Deal are spreading across Europe, a regulation on the recovery of natural resources was adopted in the European Parliament. This is a new burden for European agriculture. The goals are not only unrealistic in terms of time, they are also extremely expensive. This proposal also exposes the hypocrisy of the left-liberal majority, which, influenced by the farmers’ indignation, is supposedly taking a step back on compulsory set aside, but on the other hand is taking two steps forward and insisting on obligation to rebuild natural resources in the EP.
EPP – the party of the Green Deal
Farmers have been protesting across Europe for a month against the enormous burdens that the provisions of the Green Deal place on the agri-food sector. Attempts to transfer responsibility for this project, which is damaging to European agriculture, have been going on for weeks. However, the facts are that these changes have been pushed and supported from the very beginning by the parties that make up the European People’s Party, which was confirmed by President Manfred Weber, who said that the EPP is the “party of the Green Deal”. In the EP, the entire PO and PSL also voted in favor of the resolution on the Green Deal in 2020. All PiS members voted against. Today, December 13 Coalition politicians talk and whitewash themselves, but they won’t shout about the facts.
It should also be remembered that within the European Commission the person responsible for the development, presentation and implementation of the Green Deal was Frans Timmermans, former President of the EC. His voice was extremely important in every legal act related to the so-called “environmental impact”: in the reform of the CAP (where he demanded the maximum increase in the ambition of “green architecture” and directly insisted that as possible percentage of the CAP budget would be allocated to the implementation of environmental and climate protection objectives); in all parts of the ‘55% Ready’ package, in developing the assumptions of the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy, including the regulations on pesticide reduction, and finally in the regulations on the reconstruction of natural resources – which he presented and personally supervised.
Unrealistic assumptions of regulations for which no funding exists
The regulation is part of the Green Deal, based on the ‘Biodiversity 2030 Strategy’ and the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy. It introduces binding targets at Member State level to restore parts of developed or degraded land and sea areas to their original state. By 2030, Member States will have to rehabilitate at least 30%. their habitats, which are in poor condition, by 2040 – 60%, and by 2050 – 90%. The new regulation also sets restrictive targets for certain biodiversity indicators in the agricultural sector, as well as for the restoration of organic soils in drained peatlands used in agriculture. I voted against these solutions, arguing that these objectives were unrealistic in terms of time, not adapted to national conditions, extremely expensive and, above all, harmful to agricultural areas.
It is worth noting that there are no separate financial resources available for the implementation of the planned activities, and currently available national and European funds will be insufficient. Moreover, the principle of “non-deterioration of habitats” included in the regulation, including outside Natura 2000 areas, will affect the economy and investments mainly in agricultural and forest areas, but also in urban areas – in fact throughout the country. Restoration targets can be particularly problematic in agricultural areas: Article 11 sets specific and stringent biodiversity targets for agroecosystems (including the restoration and maintenance of pollinator populations or bird habitats) and requirements for the reirrigation of drained peatlands. Fortunately, thanks in part to the votes of PiS members, the requirements of this article have been significantly relaxed compared to the original proposal.
The European elections are an opportunity to stop the madness
The new regulations also ignore the social aspect and interfere with regulations regarding private property. The objectives of the regulation are also at odds with food and energy security priorities. Moreover, the achievement of the objectives of restoring the natural connectivity of rivers may not be economically justified and lead to the loss of important economic functions of river systems, such as inland navigation, water supply or renewable energy production. Finally, the regulation will impose enormous and unenforceable planning, management, monitoring and reporting obligations.
It is a shame that the main author, F. Timmermans, resigned from his position last year and abdicated any responsibility for his unrealistic ideas that he brought to Europe, including our farmers, but the left-liberal parties in the European Parliament will not escape from this responsibility. Nevertheless, the main responsibility lies with the head of the European Commission, whose political family – the European People’s Party – sees the Green Deal as a kind of Copernican revolution and whose President Weber even compares these provisions to landing a man on the moon. The European Parliament elections in June will be an opportunity to stop this Green Deal madness.
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Source: wPolityce