Source: European Parliament
1. Sweden, Finland and Estonia have different levels of legal protection[1] for their wolf populations under the Habitats Directive[2]. Consequently, the constraints and the possibilities for wolf culling in the mentioned Member States are not the same. As regards Sweden, an infringement procedure has been opened in 2010[3] in relation to their wolf management practices. In Finland, the derogations granted by national authorities under Article 16(1) of the directive to allow killing of wolves have been the subject of a preliminary ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), in Case C-674/17[4], in which all the conditions for such practices have been clearly defined. On 12 October 2021, the Commission adopted a guidance document[5] providing clarifications of the legal provisions under Articles 12 and 16 of the Habitats Directive and reflecting the latest legal interpretations of the CJEU, including the above-mentioned ruling concerning wolf derogations in Finland.
2. Following the adoption of the EU proposal[6] to reduce the protection status of the wolf under the Bern Convention[7], after its entry into force, the Commission will present a targeted legislative proposal to implement this change in EU law and to modify accordingly the regime of the wolf under the Habitats Directive, moving the wolf from Annex IV (strict protection) to Annex V (protection).
- [1] Protected (Annex V) in Estonia and in the Finnish reindeer management area. Strictly protected (Annex IV) in the rest of Finland and in Sweden.
- [2] Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7-50.
- [3] INFR (2010)4200: https://ec.europa.eu/atwork/applying-eu-law/infringements-proceedings/infringement_decisions/?lang_code=EN&typeOfSearch=byDecision&active_only=1&noncom=2&r_dossier=&decision_date_from=&decision_date_to=&DG=ENV&title=NATURE&submit=Search&langCode=EN&version=v1&refId=INFR(2010)4200&activeCase=true&dg=ENV&page=1&size=10&order=desc&sortColumns=decisionDate
- [4] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX:62017CJ0674
- [5] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=PI_COM:C(2021)7301
- [6] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_6202
- [7] https://www.coe.int/en/web/bern-convention