Vote in Brussels: Change of course on the wolf – EU states want to reduce protection

Representatives of the EU states have voted, with Germany’s support, for a reduced level of protection for wolves. This paved the way for a procedure in Brussels to more strictly regulate the population of the predator, which is controversial because it preys on grazing animals.

“The wolf population numbers have developed in recent years to such an extent that this decision is justifiable from the point of view of nature conservation and necessary from the point of view of livestock farmers,” said Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) in Berlin.

The federal government changes its stance

A reduction in the protection status could give the legislature more leeway and flexibility in dealing with problematic wolves, but it is not a free pass for unregulated shooting, said Lemke. And: “The wolf is and remains a protected species, and its good conservation status is the goal.”

The plan is to reduce the wolf’s protection status from strictly protected to protected. With this approval, the German government is changing its course in wolf policy, even if the decision does not yet enshrine a weaker protection status in binding EU law. It is expected that problematic wolves can be shot more easily in the future, even if details of this are not yet known.

Balance between nature and grazing animal protection

According to diplomatic sources, it is important to Germany that only the protection status for the wolf and not for other animals is changed. In addition, from Germany’s point of view, coexistence between wolves and grazing must be possible. A Commission spokesman said: “We have also made it very clear that this is about the wolf and only the wolf.” Any changes to EU law would be limited to this specific species.

“It’s about putting an end to deadly attacks and the painful death of our livestock and at the same time giving grazing livestock farming a future,” said Carina Konrad, deputy leader of the FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag. Nature conservation requires clear rules and the possibility of hunting wolves.

The nature conservation organization Nabu criticized the decision. “Anyone who assumes that making it easier to shoot wolves will eliminate the risk of attacks is wrong,” said Nabu. Herd protection must always play a role, because even a few wolves can cause great damage to unprotected herds.

Discussion in Germany now highly emotional

The federal government is also reacting to a discussion that is becoming increasingly aggressive. Attacks on livestock such as sheep and cattle have recently become more frequent and are becoming a problem for grazing livestock farming – the self-declared goal of sustainable agriculture. Herd protection measures to ward off wolves are increasingly being overcome.

While there are reports of wolves making it into stables, the so-called removal – in practice the killing of individual animals – is also a problem. Wolf conservationists are taking legal action in administrative courts and thus preventing the shooting. Livestock farmers in large states such as Brandenburg and Lower Saxony are angry. They are demanding population management that could even lead to “wolf-free zones”.

First step

A lengthy process now follows. Once the decision has been formally adopted at ministerial level, the EU can submit a corresponding application to downgrade the wolf’s protection status to the so-called Standing Committee of the Bern Convention. This is an international treaty adopted by the Council of Europe in 1979 to protect European wild fauna and flora.

If there is a majority in the Standing Committee for the changed protection status, the EU Commission can submit a proposal to change the protection status of the wolf in EU law. This proposal again requires a majority among the EU states and a majority in the European Parliament. Changes to the plan are possible.

Wolf was extinct

According to the WWF species protection organization, the wolf was eradicated in Western Europe, and thus also in Germany, in the middle of the 19th century. It only survived in the east and south of Europe. The Saxon Wolf Agency writes that in the 1970s and 1980s there was a change of thinking and the wolf was placed under protection in many European countries.

According to the Federal Environment Ministry, almost 1,400 wolves were detected in Germany in the 2022/2023 monitoring year – and the number is rising. The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) – an umbrella organization of environmental organizations – estimates that there are around 20,000 animals in Europe.

The German Farmers’ Association recently warned of increasing attacks on livestock by wolves. The lobby organization reports that more than 4,300 livestock were killed, injured or missing in 2022. In 2018, this number was reportedly about half as high. According to official figures, compensation payments for such damage have also increased significantly in these years.

“The protection status of the wolf is no longer justified, the problems with the wolf itself are increasing dramatically in Germany and Europe,” said the president of the farmers’ association, Joachim Rukwied, on Wednesday. “The reduction in the protection status is logical and a first important step for our livestock farmers to ensure that something is happening with the wolf.”