The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) confirmed the validity of Austria’s ban on wolf hunting in a ruling handed down on Thursday 11 July (Case C-601/22).
In the main case, WWF Österreich and other animal protection organisations challenged a temporary authorisation to kill a wolf that had killed around 20 sheep in the state of Tyrol.
As Austria is bound by the European Habitats Directive of 1992 and the Bern Convention on the conservation of wild flora and fauna, which impose strict protection of wolves, the Tyrol Regional Administrative Court asked the CJEU to specify the conditions under which derogations from this ban may be granted.
The Court stressed that, in order to grant a derogation, a number of criteria must be met: the favourable conservation status of wolves at local, national and cross-border level, the absence of damage to that status, the direct responsibility of the wolf in question for the damage and the absence of satisfactory alternative solutions.
Although the evolution of the wolf population in Austria may prompt a reassessment of their status, the CJEU confirmed, after examining the case, that the current conditions do not allow the ban on hunting them to be lifted. It ruled that the wolf population in Austria was not in a favourable state of conservation, an essential condition for considering an exemption to the hunting ban.
This decision is part of a strict conservation framework, aimed at preserving biodiversity while taking into account the economic concerns of farmers.
To see the judgments of the Court of Justice, go to https://aeur.eu/f/d0r (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)