On Wednesday 25 September, the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) backed a proposal made by the European Commission in December 2023 to lower the international protection status of wolves in Europe from “strictly protected” to “protected” (see EUROPE 13318/6).
Last December, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, declared that “the concentration of wolf packs in some European regions has become a real danger, especially for livestock”. The European Commission’s proposal is intended to offer more room for manoeuvre with regard to hunting wolves, while maintaining a favourable conservation status for the species. The Commission stated that there are more than 20,000 wolves in Europe and their populations are increasing.
21 Member State representatives voted in favour of this amendment. According to a diplomatic source, only two countries – Ireland and Spain – voted against the proposal, while four abstained (Malta, Cyprus, Slovenia and Belgium).
Although formal validation by the Council of the EU is still pending, it should be ratified on Thursday 26 September at the Competitiveness Council. The European Commission will then refer the matter to the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention, which is due to meet in the first week of December. The change must be made under the terms of the international Bern Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats.
Is this good news for Europe’s livestock farms? On X, MEP Céline Imart (EPP, French) hailed “an initial victory for French and European livestock farmers, which will enable them to better protect their farms”. The position of Member State representatives comes “after years of persistent pressure from the EPP”, said the group, which defends the idea of “protecting ourselves from wolves”.
According to the Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation of the EU, the vote in favour of changing the status opens the door for “coexistence tools to ease tensions”. The federation is recommending the introduction of “appropriate measures” to regulate poaching and poisoning, which is said to be causing collateral damage to “livestock guard dogs, bears, scavenging birds, and even worse, the waters of our streams”.
Biodiversity conservationists oppose the change in status of the wolf
On the contrary, the Association for the Protection of Wild Animals (Association pour la Protection des Animaux Sauvages – ASPAS) fears that a change in the wolf’s status could lead to an surge in poaching. As for the NGO Birdlife, they believe this will open the door to “wolf culling as a false solution to livestock depredation” which “runs counter to Europe’s commitment to safeguard and restore biodiversity”. Similarly, Saskia Bricmont MEP (Greens/EFA, Belgian) believes that such a decision risks “opening the door to hunting quotas”.
And while Peter Liese MEP (EPP, German) has stated that wolves “are no longer an endangered species”, ASPAS is of the opinion that changing their status will “undermine all of the conservation efforts undertaken in recent decades to help the species recover”. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)