Sawt Falasteen - Contested EU biodiversity law hangs by a thread

The rules were a central part of the European Union's ambitious environmental goals under the Green Deal, a set of laws aimed at helping the bloc meet its climate goals -- but which farmers say threaten their livelihoods.

Lawmakers have their eye on elections in June and are keen to placate a key part of the European electorate as farmers continue to vent their anger at Brussels.

An estimated 900 tractors brought Brussels' European quarter to a halt on Monday -- for the second time in a month -- to press for a rollback of red tape and regulations.

Europe's farming unions had called on lawmakers to support the agricultural sector by rejecting the text. The parliament's biggest grouping, the conservative European People's Party (EPP), heard their call.

The text was to have been rubber-stamped by the European Parliament on Tuesday, after EU negotiators struck a draft agreement in November -- but the EPP announced late Monday that it would not back the law.

"The EPP Group continues to have serious concerns about the Nature Restoration Law," said the vice chair of the EPP, Siegfried Muresan.

"We do not want new and more forms of bureaucracy and reporting obligations for farmers. Let farmers farm," he added in a statement.

Muresan pointed to concerns that some EU countries would use the law to introduce more paperwork and "far-reaching" monitoring obligations for farmers and foresters.

The agreed text demanded EU countries put in place measures to restore at least 20 percent of the bloc's land and 20 percent of its seas by 2030.

It had already been watered down after surviving previous EPP attempts to kill it.

- 'Playing with fire' -

French EPP MEP Anne Sander told AFP that she would vote against the law because of the "dangers" it posed.

"While the agricultural world exclaims its anger throughout Europe, supporting the establishment of new standards would, in my opinion, be a mistake," she said.

There is still support for the draft law among centre-left and left lawmakers, and a parliamentary source rejected the idea that the EPP's move would kill the text.

"It will depend on the number of elected officials in the (parliament) hemicycle, and the votes of the Renew, Socialists and Democrats delegations, but it looks complicated," the source told AFP.

Copa-Cogeca, an umbrella organisation for European farmers' unions, said the agreed text contained "unrealistic and unbudgeted provisions".

Environmental organisations were quick to slam the EPP's decision.

"Unbelievable... EPP teams up with far-right to kill the Nature Restoration Law! By recommending their MEPs to reject the negotiated agreement, the EPP group is playing with fire. The Parliament's credibility is at stake," WWF EU said on X.

N.Awad--SF-PST