Austria’s environment minister voted for an EU environmental law. The measures to restore natural areas are opposed by conservatives. A government crisis is emerging in Austria.
In the dispute over an EU environmental protection law, Austria’s conservative chancellor party ÖVP is taking criminal action against Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler. ÖVP General Secretary Christian Stocker announced that he would file charges of abuse of office.
By agreeing to the EU renaturation law, Gewessler had knowingly broken constitutional law, argued the party manager. “Leonore Gewessler is putting herself above the constitution because she cannot reconcile her green ideology with acting in accordance with the law,” said Stocker.
The ÖVP argues that Gewessler is bound by an objection from the Austrian federal states against the EU law. Gewessler is convinced that this veto no longer applies since Vienna recently left the consensus among the states and supported the law. At a meeting of EU environment ministers in Luxembourg, a sufficient majority of EU states approved the plan, which had been criticized by farmers and conservatives. According to this, more trees are to be planted in the European Union in the future and moors and rivers are to be returned to their natural state.
Source: Stern
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