THE European Commission has been asked to re-evaluate their proposals on the controversial Nature Restoration Law (NRL) which was rejected last week by a committee of the EU’s parliament.

IFA President Tim Cullinan (pictured) said that last week’s outcome in the European Parliament’s Environment Committee – rejecting the proposed legislation – raised significant questions about how the EU Commission approached this piece of legislation.

The Committee failed to pass the proposed NRL and was deadlocked at 44-44 on the issue, after which IFA Director of European Affairs, Liam MacHale, said that such an outcome was unprecedented.

“While the proposal can still proceed to plenary, it is time for the Commission to re-evaluate their proposals,” said Liam McHale.

Tim Cullinan said that the proposal had now failed at three Parliament sub-committees – agriculture, fisheries and environment – adding that the EU Commission had failed to take on board the widespread concerns raised by farmers across the EU.

“The Commission has to go back to the drawing board and revise its approach to what they want to do. Anything to do with land use cannot succeed without the backing of farmers,” he said.

IFA Environment Chair Paul O’Brien, who has co-ordinated COPA’s (The Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations) campaign in recent months, has highlighted the problems with the proposals.