2024 is an important election year in many areas of the world. The local and European Parliament elections will take place from 6 June to 9 June, the US elections will take place on 5 November and, while a general election in Ireland has to be held by 22 March 2025, the likelihood is that it will be held in 2024. This political reality will form the backdrop to many of the developments in our Horizon Tracking discussions this year, beginning with our Spring 2024 Horizon Tracker.

The outcome of the 2024 European elections will determine the mandate of the European Parliament and consequently the direction of EU policies over the next five years. Historically, the Parliament has been more progressive in outlook than the Council but this relationship could well change after the elections, with many predicting a shift in the balance of power towards the right. That said, recent elections in Poland, which saw the return of Donald Tusk as Prime Minister, surprised many. Nevertheless, as we saw in our commentary in the Corporate section, work on the CSDDD has been paused because the Directive failed to receive final approval within the Council. As a consequence, an agreement before the elections seems unlikely and any predicted shift to right wing politics will have consequences, not only for this Directive, but other initiatives on environmental issues, including green funding initiatives.

Notwithstanding this political uncertainty, and possible reverberations in this area, there have been a number of significant developments since our Autumn/Winter Horizon Tracker at the EU and domestic levels. On 9 January the Council undertook to formally adopt the "Ecodesign" Regulation after the European Parliament has done so. This initiative extends the scope of the Ecodesign Directive and it proposes additional legislative measures that aim to make products placed on the EU market more sustainable. More recently, on 27 February 2024, a first reading took place at the European Parliament of a Proposal for a Regulation on Nature Restoration. The overarching objectives of the Proposal are the restoration of degraded ecosystems, the safeguarding of food security and resilience of food systems, and the conservation of biodiversity. It also sets restoration targets across various ecosystems detailing how these targets will be achieved. Both of these measures, therefore, are in the EU legislative process.

At the domestic level, the Marine Protected Areas Bill pre-legislative scrutiny stage was completed in February 2023 and, although the Bill has been listed for priority publication in the Spring Legislative Programme, concerns have been raised by stakeholders and interested parties that the European elections, and the possibility of an Autumn general election in Ireland, may impede progress. Although the bill aims to empower the Minister, alongside an advisory body, to identify marine protected areas ("MPAs"), these protected areas will also support Ireland's offshore wind industry. The general scheme further outlines that the identification of areas which are unsuitable for offshore renewable energy developments will be as efficient and quick as possible so that milestones on national climate adaption are met. In line with the EU's set target of reaching 30% Marine Protected Area Coverage of Ireland's Maritime Area by 2023, the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Malcolm Noonan, stated that the government is committed to achieving this objective. He observed during Oireachtas debates that, while it was a matter for the Oireachtas, he hoped that the Bill will be ready for publication in the first quarter of 2024. The Bill is scheduled for discussion by the Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage on 5 and 6 March 2024.

In other news, the Government approved the Heads of the Future Ireland and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill, 2023 on 10 October 2023 and the heads were formally published on 12 October. The proposed Bill seeks to establish both The Future Ireland Fund (FIF) and The Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund (ICNF). The Bill provides that the funds will be owned by the Minister for Finance and managed and invested by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). At the end of February, the Minister indicated that he intended to bring forward the legislation to give effect to these funds in March and to introduce it in the Oireachtas in the weeks after that.

Finally, we outlined the progress of the Planning and Development Bill 2023 in our Autumn/ Winter Horizon Tracker 2023. The Bill completed Dáil Éireann Second Stage on 30 November 2023. It is now at Committee Stage where it will be examined section by section and any amendments will be made during this time.

Read more:

Major Policy Developments in Irish Offshore Wind and Hydrogen

Red III On the Horizon

LEGAL AND REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS