Centre-right lawmakers push back on EU nature laws

The political party behind the European Parliament’s biggest lawmaker group on Friday opposed two of the EU’s main policies to protect the environment, threatening to block the laws which the group says would hurt European farmers.
In a resolution adopted on Friday, the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) said it rejected a proposed EU law requiring countries to restore damaged natural ecosystems and another to halve chemical pesticide use by 2030.
“In too many regions or member states the implementation of existing nature legislation has led to a bureaucratic nightmare and planning deadlock, endangering food security, renewable energy production, crucial infrastructure etc,” said the resolution, seen by Reuters.
It urged the European Commission to first help countries address issues caused by existing EU nature laws. The proposed pesticide targets are “simply not feasible” for farmers, it added.