Badger cull complaint thrown out by EU committee

A complaint against the Welsh badger culling trial, lodged in the European parliament by the Badger Trust, has been rejected.

The complaint was brought by the Trust under the Bern Convention – an EU-wide agreement to conserve wildlife.

But an EU committee ruled that the cull did not conflict with the convention and removed it from the complaints list during a meeting in Strasbourg, on Monday 3 May.

Wales’ rural affairs minister Elin Jones welcomed the ruling by the Standing Committee of the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats.

“This is confirmation that the [committee] agrees with our view that the provisions of the Bern Convention have been fully respected in considering the proposed badger cull,” she said.

“We will continue with the preparations in the pilot area. Bovine TB is one of the biggest problems facing cattle farmers across Wales, and we have to tackle all sources of the disease. We will face serious consequences if we do not.”

This decision follows the recent High Court Judicial Review in which the Welsh Assembly Government successfully defended its decision to implement a pilot badger cull in west Wales.