The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has welcomed a move by MEPs to scrap rewetting of peatlands in the latest vote on the Nature Restoration Law.
MEPs voted to adopt a revised version of proposed law in the European Parliament yesterday (Wednesday, July 12), by a margin of 36 votes.
Among the tabled amendments which were agreed to by MEPs was the removal of Article 9, which covers the contentious issues of rewetting of drained peatlands.
Nature Restoration Law
ICSA president Dermot Kelleher said that the narrow margin in favour of an amended version of the Nature Restoration Law shows how flawed the original proposal from the EU Commission was.
“The high-handed and arrogant approach of the Green Deal, led by Ursula von der Leyen and Frans Timmermans, must be abandoned in favour of respectful negotiation with farm representatives who understand the threats to farmers who are expected to implement all these measures.
“Trust has been lost, particularly because land ownership has been threatened and people’s legitimate concerns ignored.
“It is also critical to understand that farmers are being bombarded with more and more extreme proposals under directives such as the Industrial Emissions Directive and the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive,” he said.
Kelleher said the parliament’s decision to scrap Article 9 was a victory for common sense.
“The latest research from Teagasc indicates that emissions from Irish peatlands have been spectacularly overestimated. It would be a travesty to rewet lands – and destroy the value of that land – based on figures that were wrong.”
Kelleher also welcomed the removal of Article 16 from the final proposal agreed by MEPs.
This article would have allowed citizens’ groups and environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to take legal action against member states for any perceived failure to implement national restoration plans.
Farmers
The president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA), Pat McCormack has said the lack of an explicit recognition for the fact that any such law must be voluntary for farmers was “deeply troubling”.
“And how do we ensure that participation, even where voluntary, does not impact or degrade neighbouring holdings? Has that even been considered?
“This has to be looked at minutely and every aspect worked through – but we can only start from the principle that it is voluntary, and no degree of compulsion is involved,” he said.
The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers’ Association (INHFA) said the outcome of yesterday’s vote in the EU Parliament is “very disappointing but not surprising”.
INHFA president Vincent Roddy claimed that farm families and their communities had been “thrown under the bus” by MEPs.
“This law is the most frightening piece of legislation on land use that has ever came from Brussels and to impose this on Irish farmers without even agreeing on a budget is utterly shocking.
“However, we have to fight on and salvage what we can from it,” Roddy said.
The EU Parliament’s largest political group, the European People’s Party (EPP), had initially sought to have the law rejected outright.
However, this was defeated by a tight margin with 324 MEPS voting against rejecting the law outright and 312 voting in favour, while 12 MEPs abstained.
The proposed law will not proceed to the final stage of negotiations, known as the ‘trilogues’, involving the EU Parliament, Commission and Council.