Gathered in the REACH Committee on Thursday, 3 September, experts from Member States approved—by qualified majority, including Germany—the proposal to restrict the use of lead shot in wetlands and to ban it within 2 years.
Expected to take place in July, this vote had been postponed (see EUROPE 12549/18) after years of deadlock on the issue within the German government.
“The minister of Agriculture, Julia Klöckner, made Germany vote for the ban. Otherwise, she would have lost all credibility. The arguments are clear: lead ammunition is toxic. Every year, 20,000 tonnes of lead end up in the environment, poisoning birds, the soil, and people”, said Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA, Germany) in a statement. In his opinion, “a ban in wetlands can only be a first step”.
The MEP sees this vote as the result of the petition he started with his colleague and compatriot Sven Giegold to try to change his country’s position.
“Within 72 hours, nearly 25,000 citizens asked Minister Klöckner to vote for a ban on lead ammunition”, he pointed out. Sven Giegold added, “The beginning of the end of lead ammunition is a great success for animals, our health, and, especially, for civil society”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)