WRITTEN QUESTION P-0787/98 by Doeke Eisma (ELDR) to the Commission (5 March 1998)

Subject: Threat to the badger (Meles meles) in the United Kingdom

Is the Commission familiar with the Kerb's report which states that there is as yet no scientific proof that tuberculosis (bovine TB) is transmitted by badgers to cattle, and with the report's recommendation that this result should be tested by exterminating all badgers over a period of five years in ten areas each of 100 km2 and exterminating badgers in an area of equivalent size where bovine TB has occurred, which is estimated will cost the lives of 10 000 to 15 000 badgers?

Does the Commission agree that this experiment is highly undesirable?

Is the Commission of the opinion that this experiment runs counter to current policy practice in the UK which is based on European nature conservation policy and that it therefore violates European nature policy?

Does the Commission feel that it is unacceptable for a native protected species of animal living in the wild to be exterminated because of its part in the spread of diseases among domestic animals and that such a large-scale extermination programme contravenes the Berne Convention and European policy on nature?

Is the Commission prepared, therefore, to take action to prevent this experiment, not least because there is no indication in any country other than the United Kingdom or Ireland of the possibility of bovine TB being transmitted to cattle by badgers?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (30 March 1998)

The Commission is aware of the Kreb report, which deals with the role of the badger in the epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) was once a common disease in humans, often contracted through drinking milk of affected cows. Intensive testing and culling of reactor cattle under national and Community eradication programmes has succeeded in making bovine TB almost a thing of the past in most Member States. However, since the early 1970's, the badger has become involved in a cycle of infection in cattle in some areas of South West England and Wales. Several eradication measures have been used, including systematic killing of badgers on affected farms and in the surrounding countryside. The success has varied from area to area. The Kreb report was commissioned by the United Kingdom in order to take a new look at the epidemiology of TB in this context. The recommendations of the report are designed to give answers to questions which will help resolve this issue.

The destruction of any animal could not be regarded by anyone as desirable, but there are serious public health concerns at stake. A successful outcome will also be beneficial rather than detrimental to nature protection, by eradicating disease from the badger population. Badgers, too, should benefit in the long term.

The badger (meles meles) is included in Annex III of the Bern Convention, which means that it is, in principle, protected. However, under the provisions of Article 8, derogations are allowed, amongst other reasons, in the interests of public health and safety. It is also relevant to mention Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora ((OJ L 206, 22.7.1992. )) (the Habitats Directive). The badger is not, in fact, currently given any protected status under this Directive.

Localised action such as proposed is unlikely to have a serious impact on the national population of badgers, which has been increasing steadily in the United Kingdom, despite the effects of the control measures and disease, over the last 10 years.

The Commission therefore does not view the proposed action as contrary to Community nature protection legislation, and would not, in such circumstances, intervene with the United Kingdom on this issue.