Environment: The European Parliament approves the reduction of wolf protection.

There is only one formality left to complete: a final vote by the Council (i.e., the Member States) to seal the deal. One formality: The Council itself had requested that the wolf be downgraded from "strictly protected" to "protected" in the Berne Convention , an international text which governs the protection of animal and floral species.

In a rare occurrence in the European Parliament, Thursday's vote on the wolf (371 votes to 162) lasted only a few seconds, and concerned a minimalist text: it only mentioned the downgrading of the animal's status in the Habitats Directive, which has regulated the conservation of natural spaces and wild flora and fauna since 1992.

The European decision only affects the status of the wolf: the use of an emergency procedure has made it possible to avoid "opening Pandora's box," say the Green Party representatives. Firmly opposed to the reduction in wolf protection, they nevertheless knew that their cause was lost and accepted the emergency procedure to prevent the parliamentary right from taking advantage of it to simultaneously downgrade the lynx, the bear, or the cormorant.

When proximity is deemed threatening

They can therefore sleep soundly. European wolves, a little less so. In a few weeks, EU states will be able to expand the conditions under which wolves can be selectively captured or killed where their proximity is deemed threatening.

There are a little more than 20,000 wolves in Europe, double their population 10 years ago, according to the European Commission . But their distribution is uneven: numerous in the Balkans, the Carpathians and the Baltic countries, they are still classified as "near threatened population" in Spain, France, Italy, Germany and Poland, and "vulnerable" in Scandinavia .

In France, there are a thousand of them, including 128 packs, mainly in the Alpine massif, but also in the Jura and Vosges. These wolves are responsible for attacks on herds. 12,500 animals in France (60,000 in the EU) were attacked in 2022 – less than 1% of accidental livestock mortality.

They don't just attack sheep and cattle: in 2022, one of them killed a pony in northern Germany. Bad operation: This pony belonged to Ursula von der Leyen , President of the European Commission. The German woman has since made the wolf "an obsession" , hence the haste of Brussels to demand a reduction in wolf protection, and of its political family (the EPP, right) to move the issue forward quickly, against a backdrop of agricultural anger.

Their presence is “crucial for maintaining biodiversity”

"The fact that 20,000 wolves are now roaming freely across our continent demonstrates the success of the Habitats Directive! In fact, the wolf's protected status no longer meets a need; it must be updated," argued Spanish EPP MEP Esther Herranz Garcia on Wednesday.

On the other hand, elected officials and environmental NGOs disagree: wolf populations are still too fragile, and their presence is "crucial for maintaining biodiversity," particularly by hunting large game, the excess numbers of which are harmful to forests.

The change in French regulations will take several more weeks to be implemented.