Totschnig Presents Restoration Plan: “We Cannot Meet the Targets Without Additional EU Funding”

Austria says it cannot achieve the EU’s restoration targets without more money from Brussels. Environment and Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig made the demand while presenting a draft national plan to implement the EU Restoration Regulation.

The regulation requires Austria to improve the condition of wetlands, rivers and floodplains. Wetlands store carbon dioxide and cool their surroundings, but their condition has deteriorated. Totschnig’s plan relies on programs that already exist rather than setting out an entirely new framework.

The presentation also opened an old political dispute. Totschnig, a member of the Austrian People’s Party, began with a criticism of his predecessor, former climate protection minister Leonore Gewessler of the Greens. The People’s Party argues that Gewessler effectively imposed the restoration regulation on Austria after voting for it at EU level in 2024 against the wishes of her coalition partner.

Her vote helped secure the narrow majority needed to approve the regulation. The Greens have since criticized Totschnig’s plan, leaving the government’s environmental obligations tied to a dispute over both implementation and funding.

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Without additional EU funding, we will not achieve the targets.