Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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Environment - Conservation of wild birds - Directive 79/409 - Fixing the closing dates for the hunting season for migratory birds and waterfowl - Requirement for Member States to guarantee complete protection of the species concerned during their pre-mating migration - Methods allowing a proportion of the birds in question to escape protection - Unacceptable - Closing dates staggered or varying between the different parts of a national territory - Delegation of power to subordinate authorities - Conditions for lawfulness

(Council Directive 79/409, Art. 7(4))

Summary

Pursuant to Article 7(4) of Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds, the closing date for the hunting of migratory birds and waterfowl must be fixed in accordance with a method which guarantees complete protection of those species during the period of pre-mating migration. Methods whose object or effect is to allow a certain percentage of the birds of a species to escape such protection, such as those consisting in fixing the closing date for hunting by reference to the period during which migratory activity reaches its highest level, or those taking into account the moment at which a certain percentage of birds have started to migrate, or those consisting in ascertaining the average date of the commencement of pre-mating migration, accordingly do not comply with that provision.

It is incompatible with the third sentence of Article 7(4) of the directive, concerning migratory species in particular, for a Member State to fix closing dates for the hunting season which vary according to the species of bird, unless the Member State concerned can adduce evidence, based on scientific and technical data relevant to each individual case, that staggering the closing dates for hunting does not impede the complete protection of the species of bird liable to be affected by such staggering. The fixing of closing dates which vary between the different parts of the territory of a Member State is compatible with the Directive on condition that complete protection of the species is guaranteed.

If the power to fix the closing date for the hunting of migratory birds is delegated to subordinate authorities, the provisions which confer that power must ensure that the closing date can be fixed only in such a way as to make possible complete protection of the species during pre-mating migration.