On Monday 26 September in Brussels, the EU agriculture ministers discussed the risks posed by large carnivores to livestock farming and rural areas.
The Austrian delegation, supported in a note by Croatia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Romania and Slovakia, called in particular for a revision of the provisions of the Habitats Directive on the strict protection of species in order to better deal with the damage caused by large carnivores (wolves, bears, lynx).
The group of countries, which also asked the European Commission to propose a cross-border surveillance system and additional funding outside the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for herd protection measures and compensation for farmers in the event of losses, was supported by the Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian and Slovenian agriculture ministers.
Virginijus Sinkevičius, the European Commissioner for the Environment, admitted that the return of the wolf was a challenge for the farming community. “A review of our policy is planned”, he stressed.
He said that Member States were using the derogations provided for in the legislation and highlighted the aid available (rural development and state aid).
Link to the document submitted by Austria: https://aeur.eu/f/39d (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)