For the wolf cubs of Europe, request filed with the Court of Justice of the European Union!
Together with our partners Green Impact (Italy), Earth (Italy), LNDC Animal Protection (Italy) and Great Lakes and Wetlands (Hungary), we are filing a request with the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). It opposes the EU Council’s decision of September 26, 2024 setting the EU’s proposal to lower the protection status of wolves at the Bern Convention Standing Committee meeting of December 2-6, against which we protested.
Short-circuiting procedures: a scandal we won’t turn a blind eye to
In its haste to reduce protection for wolves and quench its thirst to kill again and again against popular opinion, the European Commission went directly to the Bern Convention to have the EU’s downgrading proposal adopted, flouting the standard 60-day deadline. This haste prevented any requests for annulment of the decision, which was already inevitably adopted since the EU holds the majority of votes within the Convention.
Yet, over 700 scientists and academics, as well as an IUCN specialist group, have recommended to the Bern Convention that it should not authorize this vote on the European Union’s proposal on wolves, or that it should vote against it on the grounds that the proposal is not sufficiently backed up by scientific evidence.
The EU’s request was based on a single report, devoid of scientific proofreading and validation, facilitating the political translation of the lobbies’ claims.
A request to denounce these aberrations
If accepted, our request, led by the Luca d’Agostino law firm and funded by the Gallifrey Foundation, could lead to the annulment of decisions based on the EU’s September 26, 2024 proposal to downgrade wolves. It was filed just after the revelation of the dysfunctions highlighted, such as: lack of scientific support, lack of scientific scrutiny, lack of democratic process in ignoring NGO and citizen demands, predominance of the will of the EU, of the processes of the EU and of the Bern Convention regarding wolves…
The fate of wolves in the hands of 17 countries
17 member States of the Convention have until March 3rd to rectify the situation by requesting the cancellation of the December 3rd vote. Until then, sign our petition to show your support for the wolf people.
Nota :
- The legal work involved in filing this crucial request with the European Court of Justice was made possible thanks to the kind support of the Gallifrey Foundation, which donated funding for legal costs to Green Impact, and the work of the Luca d’Agostino law firm team.
- The European Commission’s proposal to weaken legal protection for wolves was mainly driven by Ursula Von der Leyen and the European People’s Party (EPP), and supported by the right-wing and far-right groups in the previously elected European Parliament.
- During negotiation of the Commission’s proposal to downgrade wolf protection in the EU Council, Spain and Ireland voted against, while Belgium, Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus abstained.
- Other EU countries such as Germany and Poland hesitated until the eve of the vote. The Belgian EU Presidency postponed the vote twice, raising doubts about the lack of scientific basis for the Commission’s proposal.
- The Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats is a binding international legal instrument in the field of nature, covering most of the natural heritage of the European continent and extending to certain African States. It is the only regional convention of its kind. It aims to conserve wild flora and fauna and their natural habitats, and to promote European cooperation in this field. https://www.coe.int/en/web/bern-convention
- On the initiative of a small group of experts supported by Green Impact, over 700 signatures from scientists and academics have been collected on two scientific statements on the conservation of wolves and their role in ecosystems. Both scientific statements recommend against supporting the downgrading of wolves and are available here and here.
- The Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe – IUCN Specialist Group – has issued a scientific statement and press release stressing that “the current proposal to downgrade the species, however, seems premature and wrong, for the reasons outlined above, and that LCIE does not recommend its adoption”. See details.
- “Conservation is the result of decision-making that must be based on credible scientific evidence. In the case of European wolves, the available data do not justify changing their protection status under the Bern Convention”, said Luigi Boitani, Head of LCIE / IUCN. https://iucn.org/news/202412/concerns-over-eus-wolf-downlisting-proposal