At the Agriculture Council meeting in Brussels on Tuesday 23 January, a large majority of EU Member States backed a change in the protection status of wolves to better deal with attacks on livestock, particularly in mountainous areas.
The European Commission has proposed changing the international status of wolves from “strictly protected” to “protected” (see EUROPE 13318/6).
At the Council, Finland supported the Commission’s proposal and explained its arguments in a note also signed by the Austrian, Czech, Greek, Italian, Latvian, Romanian, Slovak and Swedish delegations.
The Italian minister, Francesco Lollobrigida, called for a move away from an ideological position.
Romania, which also mentioned the damage caused by brown bears, advocated a revised legislative framework with measures to be taken in the event of attacks and to facilitate compensation for farmers. In March, Romania will present an initiative to the Environment Council to justify the request to modify the protection status of wolves.
France also supported the Commission’s proposal, as did Denmark (which also mentioned the damage caused by seals and cormorants). Only Germany did not wish to support the Finnish document, while acknowledging that coexistence between wolves and livestock farming was difficult.
David Clarinval, the Belgian minister chairing this Council, indicated that a very large majority of delegations supported the problems raised by Finland, and that he would be sending a letter to the President-in-Office of the Environment Council on the concerns expressed on the subject within the Agriculture Council.
Virginijus Sinkevičius, the European Commissioner for the Environment, pointed out that in July next year, all the Member States will submit their reports under Article 17 of the Habitats Directive, “which will provide us with up-to-date data and assessments for all the species covered by the Directive”. On the basis of these data and the national assessments, the Commission will evaluate the conservation status by biogeographical region of the EU, which will provide a complete picture of the conservation status of large carnivores and other protected wild species.
As far as amending the annexes to the Directive is concerned, a change to the international Bern Convention is “a prerequisite for any change in the EU rules”, warned the Commissioner. “Our proposal to lower the protection status under the Bern Convention was made on the basis of an in depth analysis which showed that the populations of wolf significantly increased in the last two decades and are occupying larger territories”, said Virginijus Sinkevičius.
The analysis also shows, according to the Commissioner, that this expansion has led to an increase in conflicts with human activities, particularly with regard to damage caused to livestock “with strong pressure on specific areas and regions”. The Commission will provide an updated picture of all relevant data, trends and the conservation status of the other species in the next State of Nature report to be delivered in 2026. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)