Austria vows legal action over EU nature law approval

(ANSA-AFP) - VIENNA, JUN 17 - Austria's conservatives vowed Monday to take legal action at the European Court of Justice after the environment minister helped pass an EU nature bill in defiance of the chancellor and the government. EU environment ministers on Monday approved a milestone bill aimed at restoring degraded ecosystems in the 27-nation bloc. The support of Austria's Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler, a member of the Greens, helped the EU's Nature Restoration Law obtain the majority needed to pass, but angered her country's governing conservatives, the People's Party (OeVP). Right-wing Chancellor Karl Nehammer said the government would file a complaint at the European court against an "unlawful" vote. "No one is above the law," the chancellor's office said in a statement, adding that it would file a separate criminal complaint against Gewessler in Austria claiming "abuse of office". (ANSA-AFP).