Cultures, not Commission, should have the last word

Date: 09/10/2003

Hunting is an issue that generates passions - on all sides of the debate. Here, Martin Banks reports on the pro-hunt MEPs who argue that member states, not Brussels, should be the judges of whether to allow field sports

THEY may not exactly wield the same clout as the major political parties, but a small band of pro-hunting members of the European Parliament are increasingly making their voices heard on the EU stage.

After years of limited impact in European domestic politics, the lobby's political 'wing' made its big breakthrough in 1999 when six French deputies were elected to the Parliament on a pro-hunting platform.

The six - Yves Butel, Jean-Louis Bernié, Alain Esclopé, Véronique Mathieu, Michel Raymond and Jean Saint-Josse - represent the single issue French party of Chasse, Pêche, Nature, Traditions (CPNT) which was set up purely to promote the interests of the hunting and fishing community.

All six have close links with the pro-hunting community: Raymond, for instance, is president of the Saune et Loire association of water game hunters in France, while Bernié is a director of the Loire-Atlantique hunting association.

Each is fiercely committed to their cause and have used their membership of the 18-strong Europe of Democracies and Diversities (EDD) group in the Parliament to raise awareness about their issues which the pro-hunting lobby feels are often ignored by urban-minded MEPs.

As it is one of the assembly's smaller political groupings, EDD members can hardly throw their political weight around as much as, say, the Socialists or Conservatives.

But a Parliamentary pan-European 'intergroup' comprising the six members, plus around 40 like-minded MEPs from other parties, has been set up to help ensure they make themselves heard.

The group's latest burning issue is a demand that a 1979 directive dealing with the conservation of wild birds be revised (see article, page 22).

The so-called 'birds directive' was negotiated by a European Union then comprising of just nine member states - not the 25 as it soon will be.

More than that, says the group, the directive has never been adapted or updated in nearly 25 years. One of its provisions is that birds should not be hunted during the breeding season or during their return to their breeding grounds.

The group argues, though, that the conservation status of many bird species has changed considerably in the quarter of a century since the law was introduced and the time is ripe for change. Nor does it take into account changing migratory patterns.

They say member states, not Brussels, should be the sole arbiter of when hunters can, and cannot, carry out their business.

Turning to the broader political challenges facing the hunting movement, one of the intergroup's members, UK Tory Roger Helmer, says one problem faced by supporters of hunting is the often "contradictory" cultural signals coming from member states.

He said: "For example, in my country, there are ever-growing calls for a ban on hunting with hounds. Yet I would be astonished if anyone in Spain challenged their right to kill an animal in a bullfight. They simply would not get awaywith it."

Yves Butel, meanwhile, says the Parliamentary group plays an important role, not only in protecting the interests of hunters but also in raising public awareness of the "enormous" benefits of hunting to tourism and rural communities around Europe.

He argues that hunting actually boosts animal welfare. For instance, it helps gamekeepers control the numbers of birds of prey, enabling other birds to survive.

His comments were echoed by Anders Grahn, spokesman of the Brussels-based Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation (FACE), which has seven million members in 31 countries.

"Hunting is not quite as huge an issue in most of Europe as it is in say the UK. But it still plays a key role in many people's lives, particularly in rural communities such as remote areas of

Scandinavia. It is a very sensitive issue but all we ask is for a debate based on the facts, not emotion," he said.

Hunting is an issue that generates passions - on all sides of the debate. Article reports on the pro-hunt MEPs who argue that Member States, not Brussels, should be the judges of whether to allow field sports.