The final vote on a hotly-contested piece of EU green legislation could be derailed this week after a public spat erupted between Austrian Green minister Leonore Gewessler and her centre-right ÖVP coalition partners in Vienna after she voted in favour of the legislation without approval.
The debacle began as EU environmental ministers gathered in Luxembourg to sign off on the Nature Restoration Law on Monday. Twenty out of 27 governments endorsed the legislation which will see member states embark on vast ‘rewilding’ programs. Many farming groups claim the measures will endanger Europe’s food security.
The final hurdle before states will be forced to implement the rewilding schemes was Monday’s vote, which met the conditions mandated under ‘qualified majority’ rules. These rules stipulate that 55% of member states, representing 65% of the EU’s total population, must approve the measure.
Controversy engulfed proceedings, however, when Austrian Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler defied her government coalition partners to vote in favour of the law at the EU Council. As a result, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer raised the possibility of a legal challenge with the European Court of Justice, claiming her vote was invalid.
The Austrian vote was enough to get the restoration bill over the line.
ÖVP party secretary Christian Stocker described to the Austrian press on Monday afternoon that the party will initiate criminal proceedings against Gewessler for abuse of office by taking the liberty to vote in favour of the restoration law, adding that the minister “places herself above the constitution because she cannot reconcile it with her green ideology.” According to Stocker, charges will be brought against Gewessler for violating the country’s constitution in a move that could topple Vienna’s fraught ruling coalition.
The dispute has heightened pre-existing tensions in Vienna’s centre-right and green coalition government months ahead of national elections, which could see the nationalist FPÖ ascend to power.
Gewessler defended her decision by citing support for the nature restoration law among certain Austrian provinces,.
The brainchild of Dutch green commissioner Frans Timmermans, the Nature Restoration Law has been in the legislative pipeline since 2022, coming under heavy opposition from even the centre-right when it passed the European Parliament in February.
Monday’s vote remains legally binding for now, despite the coalition infighting back in Vienna. EU progressives are pushing through legislation quickly ahead of the Hungarian takeover of the European Council Presidency next month, and before the first sitting of the European Parliament after massive losses for the Greens and gains made by the populist right.
