WRITTEN QUESTION P-2608/99 by Gilles Savary (PSE) to the Commission. Directive 79/409/EEC ‐ Dates of the hunting season.
Date: 1999-12-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Court of Justice of the European Union, EC Directive, EU law, hunting, hunting regulations, interpretation of the law, national implementing measure, powers of the institutions (EU), protection of animal life

8.8.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 225 E/185

(2000/C 225 E/205)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2608/99

by Gilles Savary (PSE) to the Commission

(22 December 1999)

Subject: Directive 79/409/EEC (cid:129) Dates of the hunting season

The procedure for amending Directive 79/409/EEC (1) on the conservation of wild birds initiated during
the previous parliamentary term in order, inter alia, to lay down the detailed rules for the implementation
and transposition into national law of Article 7 of that directive, has not been concluded. What, therefore,
are the Commission(cid:146)s views on the fixing of the dates of the hunting season in the various Member States?

Precisely how does it interpret the general provisions laid down in Article 7 in its present wording?

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

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(11 January 2000)

As the procedure for amending Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild
birds is not yet complete, the Member States must fix the dates of the hunting season for birds in
accordance with the current provisions of paragraph 4 of Article 7 of the Directive.

Interpretation of Community law falls not to the Commission, but to the Court of Justice, which has
already interpreted Article 7(4) in its judgments of 17 January 1991 (Case C-157/89, Commission v Italy (1))
and 19 January 1994 (Case C-435/92, Association pour la Protection des Animaux Sauvages and
others v PrØfet de Maine-et-Loire and PrØfet de Loire-Atlantique, Reference for a preliminary ruling:
Tribunal administratif de Nantes (cid:129) France (2)).

(1)
(2)

European Court Reports 1991, p. I-0057.
European Court Reports 1994, p. I-0067.

(2000/C 225 E/206)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2610/99

by Karl von Wogau (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(12 January 2000)

Subject: Restriction on freedom of movement because of returned goods rules concerning firearms

Is the Commission aware that in the Federal Republic of Germany with effect from 22 June 1999 persons
bearing arms already entered in the European Firearms Pass require an additional information sheet (cid:145)INF 3(cid:146)
(on returned goods)?

Does the Commission agree that this is a restriction on freedom of movement?

The introduction of the European Firearms Pass was intended to provide definitive rules for the bearing of
arms on the territory of the Member States, The purpose of the new form is not obvious. The value added
tax is included in the purchase price. If a weapon is sold there is, in any case, an obligation to have it
removed from the arms possession card or the European Firearms Pass within a period of four weeks.
Presenting the European Firearms Pass should be sufficient for persons crossing borders.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(3 February 2000)

Article 12 of Council Directive 91/477/EEC of 18 June 1991 on control of the acquisition and possession
of weapons (1) states that possession of a firearm during a journey through two or more Member States is