By Albert Link
Not exactly the fine Swedish kind…
Climate activist Greta Thunberg (20) irritated with an obscene gesture during her visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg: Laughing, she stretched out both middle fingers – obviously addressed to the opponents of a far-reaching nature conservation law, which was passed with a narrow majority on Wednesday.
The vote was preceded by a thriller because the conservative EPP (European People’s Party) opposed the Commission’s draft – and thus against the heart of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s “Green Deal”. Spokesperson: Group leader Manfred Weber (50, CSU), of all people, who lost out to von der Leyen in the race for the top job in Brussels.
Climate Greta mocks 300 MPs
Means: Greta’s middle finger was also directed against Weber and his comrades-in-arms, who thus represented the interests of farmers in Parliament. Because: The law, which is mainly behind the Greens, was ultimately adopted with a majority of 336 yes to 300 no votes. A defeat for Weber, but also for some of the Liberals, who have been campaigning for weeks to press the “pause button” on the “Green Deal” in view of war, inflation and major economic concerns.
Background: The draft law on “restoration of nature” provides for a renaturation of at least 20 percent of the surfaces and sea areas in the EU by 2030. Re-irrigation of river meadows or moors is also planned in order to reduce the consequences of periods of drought.
Measures such as more flower strips, from which bees and butterflies should benefit, are also planned.
The German Farmers’ Association and other agricultural organizations in Europe, on the other hand, fear losses if they can no longer use part of their land or if the use of pesticides is massively restricted. Some farmers had come to Strasbourg with tractors to demonstrate against the law.
Greta’s joy at winning the vote did not last long, because the law was watered down in key points – a lot of “should” in the wording, little “must”. “Of course it’s positive that the law got through, but it’s so watered down now,” she ranted. And: “It is absurd that we have to fight for the bare minimum.”