A dozen EU agriculture ministers called, on Monday 26 June, for the rules on the management of large carnivores to be updated to prevent the proliferation of wolf attacks on livestock.
Only Germany is clearly opposed to a change in the legal framework (see EUROPE 13029/3).
Romania and the other countries supporting this request (Slovakia and the Czech Republic) have asked the Commission to reclassify the respective species from Annex IV (strict protection) to Annex V (simple protection) of the Habitats Directive (Directive 92/43), “which would facilitate the establishment of a correct number of large carnivores”.
These countries are calling for “adequate additional funding” within the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and, above all, outside it, for various measures (monitoring systems and automatic compensation for farmers in the event of losses).
Ministers from several countries (including France, Finland, Austria, Italy and Greece) supported Romania’s demands.
Virginijus Sinkevičius, the European Commissioner for the Environment, pointed out that, under the Habitats Directive, derogations were already possible. “We are currently carrying out an assessment of the situation of the wolf in Europe (taking into account all scientific opinions), the results of which will be presented by the end of the year”, he told the ministers (see EUROPE 13070/24).
Link to the Romanian note: https://aeur.eu/f/7qk (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)