Supreme Court rulings in France on bird trapping 2021
The EU Birds Directive has banned bird trapping with nets and traps since 1979. Derogations are only possible if they are essential to preserve a tradition.
The hurdles for this are high, however, because the state must ensure that only "small quantities" of birds are caught, that there are sufficient controls and that the catch is selective (i.e. only concerns the species for which the derogation was authorised). Since it is fundamentally questionable what constitutes a "tradition" at all, what is considered "indispensable" for its preservation, since area-wide controls are practically impossible and traps as well as nets basically never really catch birds selectively, these derogations should actually be impossible.
And yet they still exist today. Some countries - such as Malta - simply don't care about EU law and are prepared to confront the EU Commission. Other countries - like France, for example - have expert opinions drawn up to confirm the alleged selectivity of the approved trapping methods. Paris, for example, has simply allowed bird trapping with traps that have actually been banned for decades, such as limesticks, horsehair snares, stone-crush traps and nets. Even though the expert opinions submitted for this were obviously wrong, France has been able to get away with it so far. But that appears to soon be over for good!
On 17 March 2021, following an environmental complaint by our French partner LPO supported by the Committee Against bird Slaughter (CABS), the European Court of Justice ruled that the use of limesticks in France is not compatible with EU law. The 'expert opinions' confirming selectivity were thrown out by the judges. The French Supreme Court then ruled on 28 June 2021 that limesticks may no longer be approved.
It was clear that the ruling would also have consequences for the other approved trapping methods in France. For these are undoubtedly not selective either. The nature conservation associations had therefore already braced themselves for further lengthy proceedings, but now it has all happened very quickly: On 6 August 2021, the Supreme Court, without any further lobbying by relevant NGOs, called the French government's entire derogation practice into question in another ruling. At least the derogations for catching larks in the Bay of Biscay and lapwings in the Champagne region was revoked with immediate effect. The other bird-trapping derogations also seem to be affected by this judgement.
These rulings have far-reaching consequences far beyond the borders of France. So far, other EU member states have also granted themselves trapping derogations in the same manner of the generous regulations of the government in Paris, which could not have been possible at all under EU law. Brussels has put considerable pressure on these countries - above all Spain and Italy - to gradually withdraw their derogations. Other countries, including Malta and Austria, are still holding on to their questionable permits. With the present landmark decisions, the house of cards of legal bird trapping in the entire EU, which is already legally built on feet of clay, could collapse. Ultimately, the decisive factor will be how the Macron government implements the rulings. If it decides to end the practice of licensing, 2021 will go down in the history of bird trapping as a very good year!