Should wolves, which have made a remarkable comeback in Europe over the last 20 years, continue to be strictly protected? At the end of December, the European Commission initiated a process that could lead, in the next few months or even years, to a downgrading of the species' protection status. This change in status has long been called for by farming groups and certain countries due to the damage caused to livestock by this predator: France, in particular, has already expressed its support for a change in status and hopes that the European Union (EU) will "progress quickly" on the issue. Environmental protection organizations, however, are very concerned and are denouncing an initiative they believe has no scientific basis and whose potential consequences are still difficult to assess.

To widespread surprise, in September 2023, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen put on the table the idea of a possible revision of the status of wolves, which have been "strictly protected" (appendix 2) under the Bern Convention since 1982. On December 20, the Commission moved from words to action by formally proposing to the EU Council that the wolf be made only a "protected" species (appendix 3). This change, if adopted, would pave the way for a modification of the EU's Habitats Directive, which is a result of this convention.

Launched six months ahead of the EU elections in June 2024, this initiative is happening in the context of a heated political battle that is crystallizing over environmental, and particularly agricultural, issues. "President von der Leyen is deliberately sacrificing decades of conservation work for her political gain, echoing her political allies's attempts to instrumentalize the wolf as a scapegoat for socio-economic problems in rural communities," denounced Sabien Leemans, senior biodiversity policy officer at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)'s European Policy Office.

A member of the right-wing European People's Party, von der Leyen could be up for a second term after the elections. Back in the spring of 2023, the Nature Restoration Law already aroused head-on opposition from EPP conservatives allied with the far right who were eager to make pledges to the farming and rural world. "It's exactly the same thing for the wolf," said Sergiy Moroz, policy manager for water and biodiversity at the NGO European Environmental Bureau. "Ursula von der Leyen is under pressure and is sending a signal to her political party by making a decision that is based neither on science nor on public opinion, but on a short-term populist agenda."

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