‘Insane’ and ‘dangerous’ to give up on EU nature law, says Belgian minister

EU institutions struck a deal on the new law — which sets binding targets for restoring 20 percent of the EU’s lands and seas by the end of the decade — in November. But while MEPs gave their blessing to the deal, the Belgian presidency of the Council was forced to postpone a vote among EU ministers, after several countries — including Hungary — announced they would not back the text, jeopardizing its approval.

Adding to the uncertainty, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has criticized the legislation in recent weeks, calling it a “bad law” and suggesting the EU should “go back to the drawing board” after the EU elections. He also previously advocated for a “pause” on new EU green legislation.

Opposing views on the future of the Green Deal has created tensions within Belgium’s federal coalition and disparities in how ministers approach negotiations on key EU files, such as the nature restoration law.

De Croo’s comments have also called into question Belgium’s role as an honest broker in discussions in the Council, where Maron is now attempting to find a qualified majority in favor of the nature restoration law.

“I don’t know what game the prime minister is playing, but he’s doing it without any cover from his government, to be clear,” said Maron, a member of the French-speaking Green party Ecolo that is in a coalition government with De Croo’s liberal Open VLD.

He added that attempting to backtrack from green policies is “out of touch and disconnected from reality,” and wondered aloud why De Croo would want to “torpedo his own presidency” of the Council.