EU countries agree to downgrade the protection status of the wolf

EU countries today backed a proposal from the European Commission to downgrade the protection status of the wolf in Europe, after Germany decided at the last minute to back the proposal, according to three diplomats.

This is a big political win for Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who personally announced the proposal one year ago and followed its negotiation closely, but also because it was a campaign promise of her political family — the center-right European People’s Party — during the EU elections earlier this year.

A number of EU governments had already pledged to support the proposal, including France, Italy, Sweden and Finland, but Germany held out until the last minute. Its support during a meeting of EU ambassadors secured a qualified majority of EU countries in favor.

Downgrading the protection level of the large carnivore will make it easier to take down problematic wolves when they’re threatening livestock by giving national authorities more flexibility to grant killing orders.

Today’s decision still needs the final validation of EU ministers, which is expected at Thursday’s Competitiveness Council, according to the Hungarian presidency. Once that’s cleared, the EU will ask the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife to change the protection level of wolves at its next meeting on Dec. 2.

If that succeeds, the Commission is expected to come forward with another proposal to modify the EU’s nature legislation accordingly. It could take about one year for that second step to be completed and the change in EU law to become effective.