The Nature Restoration Law failed to make it through the EU Parliament's environment committee with an even split of 44 MEPs voting for and 44 against. Passage would have required a simple majority of votes.
The outcome means that the environment committee has proposed that when the vote hits the floor of the European Parliament in July, MEPs should reject it. No amendments to the Commission's proposal were agreed upon in the committee, meaning that it will be sent to the EU Parliament's plenary session in its current form.
The razor-thin vote prompted a flurry of cheers and jeers in the evenly split committee when the vote was finally tallied.
Finnish opposition
The Finnish government opposes the proposal and voted against it when member states formed their positions on the proposal at last week's meeting of environment ministers. This marks a departure from the previous government, which was in favour of the proposal. The current Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Sweden, also opposed it, as did Poland, the Netherlands and Italy.
The Commission has estimated that the regulation would impose relatively higher costs on Finland than on other member states. The current estimate is that it would cost Finland around 750 million euros per year, but calculations are still subject to uncertainties.
In the debate in Finland, the regulation has seen particular opposition from the forestry industry and the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK). Last year, the Centre Party's opposition to the EU proposal caused friction within Sanna Marin's (SDP) centre-left government.
The aim of the regulation is to speed up the process of returning man-made environments to, or close to, their natural state. The regulation is part of the EU's strategy to halt the loss of nature by 2030.
The Commission's proposal last year hit a roadblock in the European Parliament when the largest group in the political body, the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), turned against it. The group includes Finland's National Coalition Party (NCP). The EPP raised concerns that restoration would cause difficulties for agriculture.
The EPP would like the proposed regulation to be scrapped altogether and the Commission to prepare it again. This would mean a significant delay before any new rules come into force.
Down to the wire vote in July
Finnish MEP Petri Sarvamaa (NCP) viewed Tuesday's vote as a clear signal to the Commission. He has been critical of the Commission's proposal and his political group in the EU parliament, the EPP, has been vehemently opposed to it. The EPP has suggested that the proposal threatens the traditional livelihoods of European farmers, fishers and forest managers.
"Next month's plenary session will be a thriller, and there will be a huge number of amendments proposed right up to the last few metres. The end result could be pretty much anything, but of course the EPP Group will continue to push for the regulation to be returned to the Commission," Sarvamaa said in a press release.
According to him, hundreds of amendments to the initiative were proposed by EPP members. However, the main negotiator of the report refused to take most of the proposed amendments into consideration.
The final position of the EU Parliament will be decided by the plenary session in July. The Commission's proposal will be killed if the vote does not pass, ending the legislative process for the bill entirely.
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