Summer 2024
A recent ruling by the European Court of Justice of 11 July 2024 clarifies that the Member States of theXNUMX-XNUMX business days they can derogate from the general bans on the killing of wolves provided that certain conditions set out in the ruling itself are met.
Derogation regime
Here are the conditions under which Member States can apply the derogation regime provided for by Article 16 of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC):
1) The wolf population must be in a favourable conservation status, both at local and national level;
2) The derogation must not prejudice the maintenance of the satisfactory state of conservation;
3) Serious damage must, at least in large part, be attributable to the specimen in question;
4) There is no other valid solution.
What Member States should do
Regardless of the chatter or the buck-passing, in order to apply the derogation regime, Member States must:
1) Demonstrate concretely the will to apply the derogation regime provided for in art. 16 of Directive 92/43/EEC;
2) Prepare adequate national wolf management and containment plans consisting of:
a) Territory monitoring,
b) Census of wolves present in the territory;
c) Scientific definition of the maximum capacity of the territory, especially if heavily anthropized;
d) Implementation of containment plans that provide for the culling of all redundant subjects, starting with the most problematic ones.
Agriculture at risk
If the member states want to make choices, now is the time to do so, before our land is abandoned by our farmers, our breeders, our mountain shepherds, but also by tourists and by those who are now afraid to enter a forest even simply to look for some mushrooms. If the member states do not apply the derogation regime provided for by art. 16 of Directive 92/43/EEC it is because they do not want to do so, certainly not because they cannot do so (hon. Sergio Berlato – National President of the Association for Rural Culture).
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