The European Parliament’s agriculture committee voted on Tuesday afternoon to reject the nature restoration law proposed by the European Commission last year.

The EPP group, representing around one quarter of all MEPs - more than any other grouping in the parliament - put forward the amendment to reject the proposals outright.

The vote comes just a few weeks ahead of a vote by the parliament’s environment committee, after which the proposals will be voted on by all MEPs.

Thirty MEPs backed the amendment, which rejected the proposals, while 16 rejected the amendment to back the draft law.

The law’s proposed targets for the rewetting of drained, farmed peatlands have drawn heavy criticism from farming organisations at national and EU level.

IFA welcomes rejection

The agriculture committee’s vote has been welcomed by the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA), which said that clarity is needed to ensure that reaching biodiversity targets will not cut back on production at farm level.

“Farmers recognise the role they can play in restoring nature and are already carrying out measures to do this,” the association's environment chair Paul O’Brien stated.

“However, the lack of clarity on the potential impact of the proposed regulation on farmland and production is very worrying.

“It is vital that a full impact assessment is undertaken to quantify the area of farmland that will be affected to ensure the proposed targets are realistic and fair and are not detrimental to the continuation of farming,” O’Brien said.

EU farmer and farm co-op group Copa Cogeca warned that a nature restoration law cannot be designed “without the clear commitment of farmers”.

It called on the environment committee to heed the agri MEPs' vote.

“We have always supported a strong environmental ambition, but, with this proposal, the European Commission is ignoring the common sense and realities of European food production,” lead EPP MEP Anne Sander said.

Prominent Green MEP Sarah Wiener, who also sits on the committee, claimed the vote was a “black day for the protection of the environment and biodiversity in the EU”.