26 Oct 2020 Major opportunity for ENVI Members to call for a workable law on lead shot over wetlands
Brussels, 26 October 2020 – A motion for resolution by MEPs Alexander Bernhuber (EPP), Ondřej Knotek (Renew Europe) and Andrey Slabakov (ECR) on the Commission’s proposal to restrict lead shot over wetlands is tabled for a vote in the European Parliament’s Environment Committee (ENVI) on 29 October.
The European Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FACE) welcomes this motion, which calls for the major errors to be fixed within the REACH Committee in a concise way. Importantly, it supports the well-intentioned objective to phase out lead shot over wetlands.
In this short video – subtitled in DE, FR, IT, PL – Dr. David Scallan, FACE Secretary General, pleads to Members of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee to adopt this motion for resolution, which will result in a major improvement towards a clear and workable law for 10 million citizens.
“Phasing out the use of lead shot over wetlands is important, and 23 EU Member States have already done this. This is not about whether we should phase out lead shot over wetlands; this is about how we do it”.
IN A NUTSHELL:
What should this law be about?
Phasing out lead shot (for shotgun shooting) over wetlands.
Who will be affected?
Member States’ enforcement officers, 10 million citizens including hunters, farmers, sports’ shooters, competitive clay shooters, which involves international and Olympic shotgun shooting disciplines.
What are the main errors?
The Commission ignored the advice of its own scientific agency leading to breaches of:
- The principle of proportionality;
- The presumption of innocence, resulting in the Commission exceeding the implementing powers under REACH by creating new obligations for “consumers”;
- The principle of legal certainty.
How to fix it?
MEPs: Workable law is in your hands – Support the motion, so the proposal goes back to the REACH Committee.