WRITTEN QUESTION E-0650/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(5 March 2003)

Subject: Massive plundering of lapwings' eggs from fields in the Netherlands province of Friesland

1. Is the Commission aware of the existence in the Dutch province of Friesland of the old custom of searching fields during the month of March for the eggs of the lapwing, which nests there, collecting these eggs and presenting the first one found to the Queen's Commissioner (the provincial governor) and sometimes also to the local mayor?

2. Does the Commission know, also, that the existence and fame of this custom will again lead, in the period from 1 March to 8 April, to tens of thousands of people collecting as many eggs as they can find, often searching the same meadows several times on the same day, disturbing the other birds that live in the places where the lapwings nest?

3. Is the Commission aware that in Friesland there are 8 500 legal holders of egg collecting permits, each of whom can collect 15 eggs, giving a total of 127 500, and that according to scientific research it is the first clutch of eggs the very one that is plundered by the egg collectors that yields the fledglings most likely to survive?

4. Does the Commission consider this practice, which does not exist in other regions of the Netherlands, to be compatible with Council Directive 79/409/EEC(1) of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds, Article 5 of which strictly forbids the collecting of birds' eggs in the wild, unless it is necessary, for example to combat disease or to reintroduce birds threatened with extinction?

5. Should the possibility provided by the new Dutch flora and fauna law for provinces to authorise the collecting of lapwings' eggs, a possibility not used by the other eleven Dutch provinces, be abolished on grounds of incompatibility with the directive on the conservation of wild birds?

(1) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979, p. 1.

Joint answerto Written Questions E-0650/03 and E-0651/03given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(4 April 2003)

The Commission is aware of the traditional taking of lapwing eggs from the wild in the province of Friesland in the Netherlands.

Lapwing, as any other European naturally occurring bird species, falls under the scope of Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds (hereafter referred to as the Directive).

Article 5 of the Directive strictly forbids inter alia, the taking of eggs from the wild. Exceptions to this general prohibition may only be granted under the strict derogation system set out in Article 9 of the Directive, provided that there is no other satisfactory solution, only for one of a limited number of reasons.

An infringement procedure is ongoing on this issue. In this respect, the Commission has issued a reasoned opinion pursuant to Article 226 of the EC Treaty. In the absence of an answer to this reasoned opinion, the Commission decided to bring the case before the Court of Justice in Luxembourg. Shortly afterwards, the authorities of the Netherlands responded to the reasoned opinion. This answer and a supplementary answer of January 2003, as well as information received from the complainant, are currently under assessment. In addition, in as far as these have not yet been brought forward during the infringement procedure, the Commission will take the elements mentioned by the Honourable Member into account in this context.

Depending on the outcome of the assessment of all the elements involved, the Commission may conclude that the conditions of Article 9 of the Directive have been fulfilled and close the case. Otherwise, the Commission could decide to implement its former decision and bring the case before the Court of Justice.