Renaturation dispute
Automatically saved draft
Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) wants to vote in favor of the controversial EU renaturation law on Monday - against the opposition of coalition partner ÖVP. She made the announcement at a press conference called at short notice on Sunday. The People's Party is fuming and announces "legal consequences".
The minister sees the move primarily as a symbolic one; she wants to send "a signal of determination", as "the most important nature conservation law on this continent" requires courage, according to Gewessler.
Vote still uncertain
So far, there is no majority in favor of the EU regulation. The renaturation law will be the focus of the meeting of EU environment ministers in Luxembourg on Monday. There is to be a public debate among the ministers. However, it is still completely open as to whether there will be a vote afterwards.
It is touch and go.
Die Entscheidung könnte laut Umweltministerin Gewessler äußerst knapp werden.
This depends above all on whether the Belgian Council Presidency gets the impression that a qualified majority (55% of EU states representing 65% of the population) will be achieved after all or not. For this to happen, one of the countries that previously wanted to abstain or vote against would have to change its mind - hence Gewessler's "message of consent". In EU circles, Poland is repeatedly mentioned as a possible candidate alongside Austria.
"Time for a decision"
She hopes that a vote will be held, as the "time for a decision" has come after many months of negotiations. If a vote is held, Gewessler emphasized that she could count on a yes vote. "I think it would be wrong to do nothing out of fear of responsibility," she explained. When asked by a media representative whether she feared a break in the coalition with the ÖVP as a result of her decision, Gewessler said: "Not at all." She had had her approval secured with several legal opinions.
The lawyers consulted had come to the conclusion that there was currently no uniform opinion among the federal states on the EU law - only such an opinion could dictate to Gewessler how she should vote. Now that the red state government in Vienna supports approval, there can be no uniform opinion from the states, the minister explained her unilateral approach. She also emphasized that the former uniform opinion referred to a legal text that was no longer up to date.
Edtstadler announces legal consequences
Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) takes a completely different view. "The Climate Protection Minister is constitutionally bound by the opinion of the federal states and also by the Federal Ministries Act, according to which she must reach agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture. Putting herself above the constitution and above the law is a new dimension. This must and will have legal consequences," Edtstadler announced on X. Gewessler was "deliberately breaking the constitution and the law" by voting yes, which was "highly irresponsible and disconcerting", as she was sworn to uphold the constitution.
Gewessler wanted to "vote with a crowbar for ideological reasons for a law that will bring a flood of over-regulation and duplication for our country", said ÖVP Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig on the minister's initiative.
Haslauer: Unilateral action "unlawful"
Salzburg's ÖVP Governor Wilfried Haslauer also immediately criticized Gewessler's announced unilateral action. This was "an affront to the federal states and the rural population". Gewessler was putting "her personal views above the interests of the federal states", criticized Haslauer. Her approach was "undemocratic" and "unlawful", he said.
In a statement to krone.at, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, Governor of the ÖVP Lower Austria, also referred to the unanimous decision of the federal states, which in her opinion remains valid. There is "no need for a 154 billion euro package from Brussels", she explained and emphasized that "hundreds of millions of euros have been continuously invested in more than 500 renaturation projects" since the flood of the century in 2002.
SPÖ, NEOS and NGOs welcome initiative
Gewessler's initiative, however, was welcomed by her own party and by Vienna's climate councillor Jürgen Czernohorszky (SPÖ), who emphasized that Vienna's red city leader Michael Ludwig had set the ball rolling with his U-turn. SPÖ leader Andreas Babler and environment spokesperson Julia Herr also welcomed the environment minister's move.
Numerous environmental organizations, including the WWF, Greenpeace and the Austrian Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union, were also pleased with the Environment Minister's decision. The NEOS also support the renaturation law. The FPÖ, on the other hand, called on Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) to "crack down" on the "renaturation dictate from Brussels".
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Kommentare
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.