Por Redaccion 
The Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has opened a public consultation on the reduction in European protection for the wolf, approved in mid-April and now awaiting ratification by the European Council before taking effect. The deadline for submitting comments has been extended until June 12, and they must be sent via email to buzon-sgb@miteco.es.
According to MITECO, this «legislative proposal» aims to «standardize» the legal status of all wolf populations in the European Union (EU) and adapt it to the recent modification of the species’ status in the Convention on the Conservation of Wildlife and Natural Habitats of Europe (Berna Convention), which entered into force in early March.
With this modification, the goal is to reduce the protection status of the wolf in those areas where the species is included in Annex IV of the Habitats Directive — ‘Animal and plant species of community interest requiring strict protection’ — and move it to Annex V: ‘Animal and plant species of community interest that may be subject to management measures for their collection in the wild and exploitation’.
«In this way, the species may be subject to management measures — such as hunting — if the different Member States consider it necessary,» states Ecological Transition.
Nevertheless, the Ministry specifies that the wolf will be subject to the protection established in Article 14 of the Habitats Directive, which requires Member States to adopt measures to ensure that the capture in the wild of specimens of wild fauna and flora species included in Annex V, as well as their exploitation, is compatible with maintaining them in a favorable conservation status.
As explained on the Ministry’s website, any contributions to this «legislative proposal» must be sent via email to the mailbox of the General Subdirectorate of Terrestrial and Marine Biodiversity of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (buzon-sgb@miteco.es).
Specifically, only responses in which the sender is fully identified (full name and ID number for individuals or entity name and tax ID for legal entities) will be considered. Responses will generally be considered non-confidential and freely available. Any parts considered confidential must be specifically identified and delimited in the comments, providing reasons for such classification.
Sources from Ecological Transition indicate that an Impact Assessment of European Legislation must be conducted for all European regulatory projects. For competence reasons, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union, and Cooperation of Spain has assigned the Department of Minister Sara Aagesen to handle the corresponding modification of the Habitats Directive for the change in the wolf’s status.
According to the European Commission’s website, impact assessments examine whether EU action is necessary and analyze the potential repercussions of the proposed solutions. In this regard, MITECO sources add that these assessments involve «consulting other actors who contribute to defining the Spanish position.» «That is why information has been provided to collegiate bodies with the autonomous communities and advisory bodies, as well as to the public,» they explain.