On Tuesday 11 October, the Czech Presidency of the EU Council submitted to the Member States a draft decision on the position to be taken by the EU at the next Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP19, Panama, 14-25 November).
This position was presented to MEPs on 5 October during a debate in the European Parliament plenary session (see EUROPE 13036/8).
The Czech Presidency’s compromise text of 6 October confirms that the EU position on all proposals to amend the CITES appendices should be based on the conservation status of the species concerned and the impact that trade has or may have on the status of these species. To this end, the most relevant and robust scientific advice should be taken into account in the evaluation of listing proposals, the compromise says.
The EU will submit 13 proposals for listing species in the Convention’s appendices out of the 52 that will be considered.
It will support proposals to amend the annexes for various species of reptiles and amphibians, in particular several species of turtles that are imported into the EU as pets. It should also encourage initiatives that contribute to increasing the capacity of relevant authorities, sharing information and best practices, with the aim of better implementing CITES and improving cooperation between source, transit and destination countries.
It will also propose to include the small Réunion swallowtail butterfly (Papilio phorbanta), an endemic species of Réunion, in Appendix III.
With regard to the request to create specific funds to which certain parties would have access, the EU should stress that this is only possible if fully justified and that access to funding should not be limited to certain parties or groups of parties.
See the text: https://aeur.eu/f/3m5 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)