The plan with the complicated name Renaturation Act for the “Restoration of Nature” has caused political upheaval not only in the EU but also in Austria for two years. Now it has even triggered a government crisis in Vienna. The Green Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler voted yes in the EU Environment Council; the larger coalition partner ÖVP and all but two federal states are against it.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer had therefore informed the Belgian Council Presidency before the vote on Monday that the Green minister was not authorized to vote yes on behalf of the Austrian government. He had also announced – unprecedented in the history of Austria’s 30-year EU membership – a so-called annulment action against his own coalition partner before the European Court of Justice due to serious procedural errors. Before the vote, however, Belgium had informed Nehammer that the vote in Luxembourg was relevant first and the rest was an internal Austrian matter.
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Unexpectedly, the law to restore nature has found a majority in the EU. This is thanks to an Austrian minister.
The ÖVP has even reported the Green minister for abuse of office
Chancellor Nehammer put an end to speculation about a coalition breakdown on Monday evening. He said in Brussels that he sees it as his “responsibility as Chancellor to ensure an orderly path to the National Council elections”. He will therefore not end the coalition, although, according to Nehammer, “the emotion is there”. The ÖVP did report the Green minister on Monday afternoon for abuse of office. However, new elections are – as planned – scheduled for September 29 anyway, so the coalition only has three months left to live. A coalition breakdown before the summer break and election campaign would probably have meant that a few final joint projects would not have come to fruition, but on the other hand both sides have not shown themselves very willing to cooperate for some time.
The specific political dispute over the Renaturation Act, which is ostensibly a constitutional dispute, has a long history: the ÖVP had already insisted on abstaining from voting in the EU a year ago. Because a – formal, unanimous and negative – decision by the federal states plus the no from the coalition partner ÖVP would make a no inevitable. Gewessler himself had long argued this way.
But then Vienna and Carinthia changed their minds, which ended the unanimity of the states. However, there is still no formal decision on this, just two announcements. The result is ostensibly a dispute among lawyers: A report by the Constitutional Service for the ÖVP states that the Greens are violating the constitution because there is no explicit act by the states that deviates from the common no. The ÖVP is even talking about looking for a majority in the National Council for a ministerial impeachment and is calling on Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen to dismiss Gewessler.
The Greens emphasise that a member of the government may make a free decision of conscience
However, several reports submitted by the Greens state that because two states have now voted differently, there is no “sufficient certainty” to prevent the Green minister from voting yes. In addition, a member of the government is allowed to make a free decision based on conscience.
A few days ago, Gewessler announced that she would definitely vote yes in the Council. This was, she emphasized again on Monday morning on ORF, a “unique opportunity” to create a real nature conservation law for this continent. Her approach was “legally compliant”. In addition, Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig of the ÖVP had already voted against the green partner’s clear stance in the EU. She therefore called for equal treatment in the coalition.
Behind the scenes, however, the main aim is to show one’s true colors and satisfy one’s own clientele just a few months before the parliamentary elections. For the ÖVP, this is the farmers’ lobby, while for the Greens, who lost votes in the European elections due to negative headlines about their top candidate, it is about profiling themselves on the issue of climate protection.
The FPÖ had called on Chancellor Nehammer to punish the Greens for their “ideology-driven” solo action, which would mean the “death of domestic agriculture”.