The APA learned this from EU circles. The decision is to be formally approved at tomorrow’s EU Competition Council in Brussels. Today’s vote took place in the EU body of permanent representatives of the 27 EU states.
In December, the EU Commission proposed lowering the wolf’s protection status from “strictly protected” to “protected.” If the EU states’ decision is confirmed at ministerial level tomorrow, the EU can submit an amendment to the Bern Convention, which regulates the animals’ protection status.
A year ago, it was Commission President Ursula von der Leyen who personally promised the affected farmers that their protection status might be relaxed. After examining the matter, the Commission put forward a proposal shortly before Christmas: the member states should adopt a resolution that allows the EU as a whole to request an amendment to the Bern Convention. Specifically, the wolf should be upgraded from “strictly protected” to “protected” in the Convention on the Protection of Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. However, the Bern Convention is the responsibility of the Council of Europe, which is based in Strasbourg and has 19 other states as members in addition to the 27 EU countries.
“Milestone reached”
“Today we have reached a milestone. Expertise has triumphed over ideology. After our years of efforts, the majority of EU member states have now voted to lower the wolf’s protection status. This paves the way for easier regulation of the large predator, the wolf. The fact is that the wolf is no longer threatened with extinction in Europe and is now multiplying by up to 30 percent per year. The problem with the wolf goes far beyond the killing of animals, because the wolf is increasingly losing its fear of humans. As politicians, we must not allow wolf attacks to occur. This is precisely why I have been fighting for years to lower the protection status,” says Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig.