Abstract
This chapter examines the Nature Restoration Law both from a procedural and a substantive perspective, as well as the relationship between the two. First, we analyse the legislative process for the adoption of the Nature Restoration Law (section 2). We argue that elements of the adoption process are at odds with the rule of law, in particular with certain provisions of EU primary law; furthermore, we will point out the weakening of the final text compared to the Commission proposal (section 3). Then, we analyse how the new law interacts with existing EU nature legislation, whether and how it aligns with climate law and renewable energy sources (RES) law and how the development on substantive aspects potentially impacts future implementation (section 4). This analysis will provide insights into how the Nature Restoration Law tries to achieve coherence among different environmental goals. Such coherence is important from a rule of law perspective since it helps to avoid conflicting norms but also promotes more effective achievement of different legislative aims, such as in the field of nature conservation and climate change mitigation. Section 5 provides concluding remarks.