Brussels, 7 March 2025
Today, the Commission is proposing a targeted amendment of the annexes of the Habitats Directive. This will align the Habitats Directive to the changed protection status of the wolf from ‘strictly protected’ to ‘protected’ under the Bern Convention, which entered into force today.
The Commission’s proposal will give additional flexibility to Member States in managing their local wolf populations, so that they can take measures that are well adapted to regional circumstances. As the wolf will remain a protected species, Member States’ conservation and management measures will still need to achieve and maintain favourable conservation status. Additionally, Member States will still have the possibility to maintain a higher level of wolf’s protection, if deemed necessary under national law.
Investments in appropriate damage prevention measures remain essential to reduce livestock predation. The Commission will continue to help Member States and stakeholders in the design and implementation of such measures through funding and other forms of support.
European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “In some European regions, wolf packs have become a real danger especially for livestock. Today, we are proposing a change of EU law that will help local authorities to actively manage wolf populations while protecting both biodiversity and our rural livelihoods.”
Next steps
The Commission proposal for a targeted amendment of the annexes IV and V of the Habitats Directive regarding the protection status of the wolf will now have to be adopted by the European Parliament and the Council.
Background
On the basis of an in-depth analysis on the status of the wolf in the EU, the Commission proposed in December 2023 to change the protection status of the wolf, which was then adopted by the Council in September 2024.
Following this, the Commission, on behalf of the EU, tabled the amendment proposal to the Secretariat of the Bern Convention. The proposal was endorsed by the Standing Committee of the Convention on 6 December 2024. The amendment of the appendices of the Bern Convention entered into force on 7 March 2025, three months after its adoption.
More Information
- Questions and answers
- Commission proposal to change the protection status of the wolf (Canis lupus) in the Habitats Directive
- Large carnivores
- EU Stakeholders Platform on Coexistence between people and large carnivores
Quote
Protecting wolves under the Habitats Directive has allowed the species to recover from near-extinction in recent decades. However, we now face a changing reality on the ground with large numbers of wolves in some EU countries. Today’s proposed change in the legal status of the wolf from strictly protected to protected under the Habitats Directive will give Member States the flexibility to manage wolf populations. This does not change the legal obligation on Member State to protect the species and preserve its populations.
Jessika Roswall, Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy
Source – EU Commission
Questions and answers on Commission proposal to align the protection status of the wolf in EU legislation to the Bern Convention
Brussels, 7 March 2025
Why did the Commission propose to change the wolf’s protection status under the Bern Convention?
After a long history of deliberate persecution which led to the extinction of the wolf in most European countries, the combination of a number of ecological, social and legislative changes (legal protection, land abandonment, natural reforestation, increase in wild ungulates populations, changes of public attitudes towards this species) allowed the wolf to survive and then to undergo a rapid population recovery at the end of the 20th century and in particular in the past ten to twenty years.
Today, the species is present in all mainland European countries, with some countries hosting large populations of over 1,000 individuals. Populations of the wolf have significantly increased in the last two decades and continue to show generally positive trends. Moreover, they are occupying increasingly larger territories. The continued expansion has led to increasing conflicts with human activities, notably concerning livestock damages caused by the wolf. Depredation has reached important levels, affecting more and more regions, both within EU Member States and non-EU Bern Contracting Parties. Wolf depredation of livestock is the main driver of conflicts with humans, alongside the range and population expansion of the species. While the impact is small at EU level and overall damage to livestock appears as tolerable at country level, its concentration at a local level leads to strong pressure on certain areas and regions.
How long will it take for the change of the protection status of the wolf in the Habitats Directive to come into effect?
The Commission proposal will now have to be adopted by the European Parliament and the Council. The timeline for the discussions with and between the co-legislators (European Parliament and Council) is their prerogative. We expect a swift adoption of the targeted amendment.
Can a ‘protected species’ be hunted?
According to both the Bern Convention and the EU Habitats Directive, if a species is ‘protected’ (as opposed to ‘strictly protected’), hunting can be authorised, taking into account the conservation of the populations.
The hunting of such a species has to be carefully regulated by Member States since they are still obliged to ensure that the favourable conservation status is achieved and maintained for the populations in their biogeographical regions.
The Commission will continue to help Member States and stakeholders in the design and implementation of such measures through funding and other forms of support.
What are the obligations of Member States when allowing the hunting of protected species?
Member States must continue to monitor the conservation status of these species and to regularly report to the Commission (every six years). They must take the necessary measures to achieve and maintain a favourable conservation status for all protected species.
How is the EU conservation status of the wolf established?
First of all, monitoring of all protected species and habitat types is carried out regularly by national authorities, under article 11 of the Habitats Directive.
As regards protected species, national authorities assess the conservation status based on monitoring data on population (size, trends and structure), range (area and trend), available habitat (quantity, trend and quality) and future prospects (pressures and threats).
Member States report every six years the results to the Commission, based on common methodology and formats, elaborated (and regularly updated) within the relevant expert group.
Based on these data, the Commission, assisted by the European Environment Agency, makes an assessment of the conservation status per EU biogeographic region.
The latest report, published in 2020, presents the results of the 3rd reporting cycle for the period 2013–2018. The next data will be reported by Member States in 2025 for the EU report to be published in 2026.
The in-depth analysis published by the Commission in December 2023 is based on the most up-to-date data available, including the results of a data collection the Commission conducted in September 2023.
With the change of the protection status under the Habitats Directive, will damage prevention measures still be eligible under the Common Agricultural Policy? Would it still be possible for national authorities to compensate damage to livestock through state aid?
The fact that the wolf might be a protected species, and not any more a strictly protected species, does not change anything in the possibility to access EU funds to support coexistence and the implementation of prevention measures. The wolf will remain a protected species under both the EU and international legislation, and the obligation to achieve favourable conservation status will remain. The same applies for the rules on the authorised national state aid schemes aiming at compensating farmers for any loss related to attacks by the wolf.
The Commission repeatedly stressed the availability of EU support and the need for national authorities to programme the appropriate preventive measures to help livestock farmers address the challenges of the presence of the wolf and other large carnivores. This call on Member States remains fully valid.
Under the CAP Strategic Plans, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) can provide support for preventive actions and investments aimed at mitigating the risk of damages by large carnivores to livestock farming as well as for relevant measures on knowledge transfer, training, advice and cooperation between rural actors. In addition, payments for environmentally beneficial grazing practices may cover additional labour costs in the premium for maintenance of protective fences or the regular costs related to maintenance of livestock guarding dogs and shepherding.
15 Member States are making use of these possibilities and have included relevant interventions in their CAP Strategic Plans (Austria, Belgium, Finland, Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia).
The LIFE programme may also provide support in facilitating the co-existence of farming and large carnivores and has already been extensively used for this purpose. Finally, EU state aid rules allow Member States to compensate up to 100% of direct and indirect costs of damages caused by protected species. It is also possible to finance up to 100% of preventive investments.
For more information
Source – EU Commission
EU-Abgeordnete Schneider und Lins (CDU) zum Schutzstatus des Wolfs
Brüssel, 7. März 2025
Heute tritt der Beschluss der EU-Kommission in Kraft, den Schutzstatus des Wolfs von „streng geschützt“ auf „geschützt“ zu ändern. Ab jetzt hat die EU die Möglichkeit, die Fauna-Flora-Habitat-Richtlinie entsprechend anzupassen. Hierzu erklären Christine Schneider (CDU), parlamentarische Geschäftsführerin der CDU/CSU-Gruppe im Europäischen Parlament, und Norbert Lins (CDU), stellvertretender Vorsitzender des Landwirtschaftsausschusses:
“Nach jahrelangem Einsatz ist ein entscheidender Durchbruch gelungen. Die EU-Kommission hat einen Vorschlag zur Umsetzung der Herabstufung des Schutzstatus des Wolfs vorgelegt. Damit wurde ein Weg geschaffen, schnell zu liefern und gezielte Maßnahmen zur Regulierung zu ermöglichen.
Wir sind unseren Weidetierhaltern verpflichtet, rasch zu handeln und die Herabstufung in einem schnellen Verfahren zu beschließen. Die Bundesregierung muss danach gemeinsam mit den Bundesländern die nationale Umsetzung vorantreiben, damit Weidetierhaltung gestärkt, der Artenschutz praktikabel gestaltet und die neuen Regelungen schnell in die Praxis überführt werden.“
Hintergrund
Am 3. Dezember 2024 beschlossen die Vertragsstaaten der Berner Konvention, den Schutzstatus des Wolfs herabzustufen. Grundlage der Entscheidung ist die deutliche Zunahme der Wolfspopulation um 81 % in den letzten zehn Jahren, die zu wachsenden Konflikten mit der Landwirtschaft geführt hat.
Die Änderung der Berner Konvention ist nicht unmittelbar in der EU gültig. Hierfür muss der Wolf in der FFH-Richtlinie von Anhang IV (streng geschützt) auf Anhang V (geschützt) herabgestuft werden. Dies würde eine flexiblere Regulierung ermöglichen, während der Erhaltungszustand der Art weiterhin gewährleistet bleibt. Die Bundesregierung ist danach gefordert, die Anpassung gemeinsam mit den Bundesländern schnellstmöglich umzusetzen.
Quelle – CDU/CSU-Gruppe im EU Parliament (per E-Mail)
EU sets to weaken wolf protection – NGOs warn of wider threats to nature
Brussels, 7 March 2025
Today, the European Commission proposed a direct amendment of the wolf protection status under the Habitats Directive [1]. This proposal follows the decision to downlist the wolf under the Bern Convention, which entered into force on 6 March 2025, drawing wide criticism from conservation experts and environmental organisations.
For the last 18 months, the EU has been pushing to downgrade wolf protection despite the lack of sound scientific evidence [2]. Back in December 2023, Ursula von der Leyen became the first-ever EU Commission President to propose lowering the protection status of any species in an international forum.
Thanks to strict protection, wolf populations have been recovering in many parts of the continent, constituting a major conservation success. Nevertheless, their conservation status continues to be far from favourable, and recovery is still fragile.
“Downgrading wolf protection is a misguided decision that prioritises political gains over science and will further polarise the debate. It offers no real help to rural communities, while it completely undermines the opportunity to continue investing in preventive measures to achieve coexistence,” says the coalition of NGOs consisting of WWF EU, BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth, and the European Environmental Bureau.
“Instead of boosting Europe’s nature, our best ally against the climate, biodiversity, and pollution crises, the EU continues its U-turn on one of its most impressive conservation successes in decades. The EU’s push against the wolf sets an extremely dangerous precedent for nature conservation policy as it disregards the science-based approach and turns species protection into a political bargaining chip,” continues the coalition.
For over three decades, the EU’s flagship Habitats Directive has protected hundreds of European species and habitats, bringing back from the brink of extinction iconic species such as the wolf and the Iberian lynx.
The coalition now calls on Member States and the European Parliament to protect the integrity of the Habitats Directive and resist any attempts to weaken it.
Note
[1] EU Commission press release
[2] The Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe – Statement on the proposed downlisting of the wolf under the Bern Convention and the EU Habitats Directive