Hunting in derogation: Lazio Region, the proposal for a regional law containing provisions on hunting in derogation has been approved in the Council.
The Lazio Regional Council approved by majority the proposal for regional law n.335 of 2012 containing “Urgent provisions for the implementation of European obligations and for the execution of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 15 July 2012. Amendments to the Regional Law n.2 of 1995 May 17 - Regulations for the protection of wild fauna and the planned management of the hunting exercise and subsequent amendments ".
With the new legislation, the Lazio Region intends to avoid the possibility of sanctions by the European Union; in fact, the President of the Lazio Regional Council, Mario Abbruzzese explained, "We avoided a sanction by the European Court of Justice which had deemed the exceptions introduced by the regional law on the planned management of the hunting exercise and the protection of wildlife and that he was about to start an infringement procedure against us ”.
Continuing, Abbruzzese affirmed "This law, in which the requested reasons have been inserted and the appropriate modifications have been made, therefore allows us to overcome the findings raised by the EU and to allow the hunting, in an exceptional and temporary way, of some species of wildlife normally not huntable. "
Finally, President Abbruzzese concluded, “What is certain is that there is a need for a more general review of the hunting activity in our region, in the interest of the many enthusiasts, but also in the environmental protection of the local fauna. This is because alignment with the relevant European Directives is right and can no longer be postponed ”.
Even the councilor for agricultural policies Angela Birindelli, speaking on the matter, explained, “The modification aims to overcome the censorship of the regional legislation by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The current legislation, in fact, allows the taking in derogation of some species of wild fauna that are not normally hunted during the hunting season and, despite having been amended by law 26/2007, in the opinion of the Court of Justice it still does not meet the requirements of the Directive. community on the conservation of wild birds ".
In particular, the new regional legislation approved by the Council replaces article 35 bis of law 17/95, highlighting, in the new formulation, the exceptional and temporary nature of the authorization deeds for hunting in derogation; furthermore, the new bill clarifies that the Regional Council is the competent authority to declare the possible existence of the conditions for the authorization of the exceptions, outlining the role of the Provinces in these procedures and inserting a form of safeguard for those species found in critical conditions for numerical consistency.
On the matter, the President of the Agriculture Commission, Francesco Battistoni, intervened explaining that "These are purely technical changes that incorporate the indications of the European Community, since an infringement procedure is in progress".
Continuing, Battistoni specified, that "with this law we are going to heal a vulnus, but the law 17/95 will need an overall revision in order to be able to adapt to the changes that have affected the hunting activity in recent years".
Similarly, the regional councilor Roberto Carlino wanted to highlight the "urgency of the measure, to avoid the infringement procedure of the European Union and the related economic sanctions".
On the other hand, the comment of the vice-president of the Agriculture Commission, Mario Perilli, is more critical, "Today we introduce some technical changes but we do not address issues that instead deserve to be taken into consideration: the regional wildlife plan, the 2012 hunting calendar, the monitoring of the functioning of the Territorial Areas of Hunting ".