The Netherlands will support a proposal to weaken wolves’ protected status in Europe in a vote planned at the EU Competitiveness Council meeting today (Thursday) in Brussels.

On Wednesday, EU ambassadors gave the provisional green light to an EU proposal to downgrade the status of wolves from ‘strictly protected’ to ‘protected’ in the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, also known as the Bern Convention, which is not an EU body.

The formal vote will be made without discussion by EU ministers at the meeting on Thursday.

Key to the EU decision was the change in the position of Germany. In January, nine EU countries (Austria, Czechia, Greece, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden) called for the re-evaluation of the wolf’s protection status. Other countries, including the Netherlands, joined the group later.

But it was Germany’s recent change in stance that allowed to reach the necessary qualified majority of 15 countries representing at least 65% of the EU’s population. Only Spain and Ireland remain opposed.

The proposal to downgrade wolves’ protected status wolves was presented last December by the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, instead of the environment commissioner. Von der Leyen’s pony, Dolly, was killed by a wolf in 2022.

Mixed reactions

Environmental organisations on Wednesday were furious at the EU’s move. “Today’s decision not only undermines decades of conservation efforts but also represents a significant setback for what has been hailed as one of the European Union’s most notable wildlife conservation successes: the comeback of the wolf from near extinction,” green groups including WWF, BirdLife, ClientEarth and the European Environmental Bureau said in a statement.

Dutch MEP Anja Hazekamp, from the pro-animal Partij voor de Dieren, told NOS it was a “sad decision that could put the survival of the wolf in Europe at risk once again”. She added that efforts should be made for a “peaceful coexistence” through “better public information and better protection for animals kept outdoors.”

However, MP Caroline van der Plas, from farmers’ party and coalition partner BBB, welcomed the “good news from Brussels.” “This will soon give more room for wolf management in the Netherlands,” she said.

The BBB recently called for a “wolf-free zone the size of the Netherlands”.

No immediate change

The decision by EU ministers, however, does not immediately change wolves’ protected status.

The EU proposal will have to be approved by the 50 members of the Bern Convention. This would pave the way for a revision of the EU Habitats Directive, which enforces the provisions of the Convention across the bloc.

The revision of the directive would have to be proposed by the European Commission and agreed by the European parliament and council (EU member states). Only then will the door open to wolves being hunted.

The return of the wolf

Wolves were hunted almost to extinction in Europe. A commission evaluation in 2023 noted that their population had increased to an estimated 20,300, but was still in an unfavourable or inadequate conservation status in six out of seven biogeographical regions.

In the Netherlands the wolf was absent for 200 years. The country is now home to between 104 and 124 wolves, according to wolf monitoring body BIJ12.

Wolven van de ZW Veluweroedel. Voorop de ouderdieren. Als eerste de reu, dan de wolvin en een jaarling en vervolgens 9 welpen. pic.twitter.com/HI72ZXSEHM

— Frank Theunissen (@ftheunissen3) September 25, 2024

There are 11 wolf packs and several lone wolves, one of which caused panic in the Utrechtse Heuvelrug area in summer. In 2021 there was just one pack, in 2022 four and last year nine. At least 55 wolf cubs were born this year.