COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EU / Environment

Finland and Austria condemned by EU Court of Justice for unlawful authorisation of springtime hunting of wild birds

Brussels, 23/04/2020 Agence Europe)

Two judgements handed down by the EU Court of Justice on Thursday 23 April condemn Finland and Austria for illegally allowing the springtime hunting of certain wild birds - the male common eider (water bird) in the Åland autonomous region and the woodcock in the Land of Lower Austria. 

In both cases, the Court finds that the very strict conditions for derogation from the Birds Directive (2009/147) were not met. In doing so, the Court ruled in favour of the European Commission, which had...