(1)

For the reasons set out in Council Decision (EU) 2024/2669 (3), the Union submitted a proposal to the Standing Committee of the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (4) (the ‘Bern Convention’) to change the protection status of the wolf species under that Convention. At its 44th meeting on 6 December 2024, the Standing Committee approved the proposal of the Union to move the wolf (Canis lupus) from Appendix II (‘Strictly protected fauna species’) to the Bern Convention to Appendix III (‘Protected fauna species’) to that Convention (‘the decision of the Standing Committee’).

(2)

In accordance with Article 17(3) of the Bern Convention, the change to the protection status of the wolf entered into force on 7 March 2025.

(3)

Council Directive 92/43/EEC (5) is a key instrument for the conservation of nature in the Union, particularly in view of the Union’s international obligations under the Bern Convention. For the change to the protection status of the wolf under the Bern Convention to be transposed into the legal framework of the Union, the decision of the Standing Committee should be reflected in Directive 92/43/EEC.

(4)

In order to transpose the decision of the Standing Committee, the entry for the wolf should be deleted from Annex IV to Directive 92/43/EEC and adjusted in Annex V to that Directive, thereby providing the wolf with the protection provided for in Article 14 of Directive 92/43/EEC.

(5)

Directive 92/43/EEC aims to contribute to ensuring biodiversity through the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora in the European territory of the Member States to which the Treaty applies.

(6)

Directive 92/43/EEC, as an instrument in the field of the environment, permits Member States to maintain or introduce more stringent protective measures as long as they are compatible with the Treaties, as provided for in Article 193 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Therefore, for the purposes of Directive 92/43/EEC, Member States remain free, notwithstanding the amendment introduced by this Directive, to maintain the protection status of the wolf at the level of protection provided to strictly protected fauna species.

(7)

Since the objective of this Directive can only be achieved at Union level, because it requires amending an existing Union legal act, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.

(8)

Directive 92/43/EEC should therefore be amended accordingly,

(1)

in Annex IV, point (a), ‘Animals’, the entry for the species Canis lupus is deleted;

(2)

in Annex V, point (a), ‘Animals’, the entry for the species Canis lupus is replaced by the following:

‘ Canis lupus ’.