EEC as regards the protection status of the wolf (Canis lupus)

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dossier	COM(2025)106 - Amendment of Council Directive 92/43/EEC as regards the protection status of the wolf (Canis lupus).
document	COM(2025)106
date	March 7, 2025

(1)For the reasons set out in Council Decision (EU) 2024/2669 ³ , the Union submitted a proposal to the Standing Committee of the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats ⁴ (the Bern Convention) to lower the protection level of the wolf species under the Bern Convention. At its 44th meeting on 6 December 2024, the Standing Committee approved the proposal of the Union to move the wolf (Canis lupus) from Appendix II (‘Strictly protected fauna species’) to the Bern Convention to Appendix III (‘Protected fauna species’) to the Convention.

(2)In line with Article 17(3) of the Bern Convention, the change to the protection status of the wolf entered into force on 7 March 2025, three months after the decision of the Standing Committee.

(3)Council Directive 92/43/EEC ⁵ is a key instrument for the conservation of nature in the Union, particularly in view of the Union’s international obligations under the Bern Convention. For the change to the protection status of the wolf to be transposed into the legal framework of the Union, the decision of the Standing Committee should be reflected in Directive 92/43/EEC.

(4)Transposing the decision of the Standing Committee requires moving reference to the wolf from Annex IV to Directive 92/43/EEC to Annex V to that Directive, which makes the wolf subject to the protection provided for in Article 14 of Directive 92/43/EEC.

(5)Directive 92/43/EEC aims to contribute to ensuring biodiversity through the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora in the European territory of the Member States to which the Treaty applies.

(6)Directive 92/43/EEC is an instrument in the field of environment, which permits Member States to maintain or introduce more stringent protective measures as long as they are compatible with the Treaties, as provided for in Article 193 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Therefore, for the purposes of Directive 92/43/EEC, Member States remain free to maintain a strict level of protection for the wolf.

(7)Directive 92/43/EEC should therefore be amended accordingly.