Yesterday, at the request of the National Presidency, Arci Caccia Tuscany wrote a letter to all the Italian MEPs in view of the vote on the restrictions on the use of lead ammunition expected for the next 25th November. This is a very important vote, which follows the approval of prohibitive restrictions under the ENVI Commission of the European Parliament. Through the Control Room of the National Hunting Associations, we obtained the presentation of a motion to the contrary which must be voted by Parliament in plenary session. For this reason, in our small way we have considered it appropriate to give a signal to our representatives.
This is the text of the letter sent to the Italian deputies to the European Parliament: "In the next plenary session of the European Parliament, scheduled for November 23, 2020, will be called upon to cast his vote on the adoption of the European Commission proposal on the ban on the use of lead-based shot in wetlands. While we understand the environmental concerns associated with the use of lead-based shot in these areas, the EC proposal interferes with the principles of EU law and represents a violation of fundamental human rights for over ten million hunters and sport shooters in Europe. Under this proposed regulation, any EU citizen transporting lead shot within a 100m perimeter of water areas will be found guilty and will have to prove his own innocence, thus nullifying the traditional rights of due process, enshrined in EU law itself.
In democracies like ours, the presumption of innocence is paramount and implies that the burden of proof cannot be easily shifted. from prosecution to defense. It is up to the prosecution to prove that a citizen is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. There are a number of other problems related to the EC proposal, which are explained in this video and in this article. For all the above reasons, We kindly ask you to reject the adoption of the Commission proposal to limit the use of lead shot in wetlands.. It's not about whether or not to ban lead in wetlands, it's about APPROVING A GOOD LAW ".