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Austria can no longer shoot wolves after ECJ ruling

by AI | 11.Jul 2024 | Europe in brief AI

The ECJ ruled on Thursday that no more wolves are allowed to be hunted in Austria as long as the wolf population in the country is not in a favorable conservation status. The affected federal states interpreted the ruling differently, but experts disagree.

Archive image - Animal welfare organizations had filed a complaint after the Tyrolean provincial government approved the shooting of a wolf by decree in 2022. Photo: APA/Hans Klaus Techt

EU-wide/Brussels/Luxembourg – Following the ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Thursday, wolves may no longer be shot in Austria for the time being. Otherwise, Austria could face infringement proceedings, says the director of the Institute for European Law at JKU Linz, Franz Leidenmühler, in an APA interview. Similarly, European law expert Walter Obwexer expressed himself in the “Tiroler Tageszeitung”.

The ECJ ruled on Thursday that wolves may no longer be hunted in Austria as long as the wolf population in the country is not in a favorable conservation status. Animal welfare organizations had filed complaints after the Tyrolean provincial government issued an order in 2022 allowing the shooting of a wolf. The Tyrolean Regional Administrative Court (LVwG) then asked the ECJ for an interpretation of EU law (especially the Flora-Fauna-Habitat Directive) on this issue.

The Tyrolean provincial government reacted calmly at first and pointed out that wolves in the province are no longer shot by decree, but by regulations. However, this does not matter, says the lawyer Leidenmühler: The ECJ says how the Flora-Fauna-Habitat Directive is to be understood. “And it is to be understood in such a way that a cull – regardless of whether it is based on a regulation, a decree or a law – is only permissible if the conservation status is favorable and if it is the least severe means.”

As long as a favorable conservation status of the wolf is not achieved in Austria, the country could face infringement proceedings by the EU Commission if further wolf removal is carried out. “I assume that the regulations for the removal of problem wolves in Tyrol cannot be maintained in this way,” Obwexer was also quoted by the “Tiroler Tageszeitung” (online edition) as saying. (11.07.2024)