Brussels, 09/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Union, in its current form, has now joined the CITES Convention, as its member states already have done. On Friday 6 March, without debate, the Council of the EU adopted the decision on the EU joining this Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The Council also decided to inform the European Parliament about this development. 178 countries, including the 28 member states of the EU, are part of this Convention. It has only been possible since 2013 for international organisations consisting of sovereign states, to join this major international instrument for protecting endangered species. (Aminata Niang).