WRITTEN QUESTION E-1845/03 by Giorgio Celli (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Request for an amendment to the Habitats Directive in order to enable the Iberian wolf to be hunted in areas south of the River Duero.
Date: 2003-06-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EC Directive, EU law - national law, Spain, hunting regulations, protected species, wild mammal

6.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 58 E/103

(2004/C 58 E/118)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1845/03

by Giorgio Celli (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(3 June 2003)

Subject: Request for an amendment to the Habitats Directive in order to enable the Iberian wolf to be

hunted in areas south of the River Duero

Via the Spanish Environment Ministry the Commission has received from the Castilla y León Regional
Government a request for the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC (1)) to be amended in such a way that the
Iberian wolf loses its entitlement to strict protection in areas south of the River Duero and can therefore be
hunted.

In view of the fact that the Castilla y León Regional Government:

(cid:1) has been auctioning wolves for hunting purposes since before 1996 at a price of over EUR 6 000 per

animal;

(cid:1) has never established to the south of the River Duero the Special Protection Areas for wolves which it

was required to set up under Annex II of the above Directive;

(cid:1) has since 1999 unilaterally authorised hunts to the south of the Duero (in contravention of the
Directive) with parties of over 100 people (cid:1) events which cannot be regarded either as selective
shoots or as monitoring expeditions;

(cid:1) systematically ignores the poaching of wolves, with the result that over 200 animals are killed illegally
in the region each year, even though no more than six fines have been issued since 1990 for illegal
wolf hunting;

(cid:1) is unwilling to pay compensation for attacks by wolves, to monitor feral dogs or to introduce

measures to improve livestock management (subsidies for guard dogs, fencing or shepherds);

(cid:1) has based its request on research carried out over excessively short periods using the wrong methods
and publicly criticised by Spanish wolf experts, who dispute the findings of such research: they have
confirmed that, rather than increasing, the wolf population is gradually dispersing on account of the
disappearance of its natural habitat and the increasing presence of major items of infrastructure, and
that the species is no longer found in many areas, such as the entire province of Salamanca,

does the Commission not consider the scientific and ethical views underpinning the request for such

1.
an amendment to be unacceptable?

2.

will the Commission give any consideration to such a request?

(1) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(11 July 2003)

The Honourable Member expressed his concern regarding the amendment of the Habitats Directive
(Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna
and flora).

According to the information available the Commission has not received any request from the Spanish
Ministry of Environment to amend the Habitats Directive.

At present, the Commission does not intend to modify the Habitats Directive, apart from adapting it for
the new accession countries. Obviously, this limited adaptation will not incorporate any modification to
the status of the wolf population in Spain.