Glue hunting: the suspension confirmed by the Council of State

The Council of State rejected Tuesday, September 22 a request from hunters to reverse the government decision to suspend the very controversial slime hunt, while rejecting an appeal against another traditional hunt.

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At the end of August, the Elysée had announced that it would not be granted for this season of derogatory quotas authorizing the hunting of glue for thrushes and blackbirds - only species for which it was authorized.

This traditional hunt has long been denounced by environmentalists and bird advocates and this decision was considered a victory for the new Minister of Ecological Transition Barbara Pompili.

The regional federation of hunters of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region had urgently requested (referred) to the highest administrative court of the country to order the government to reverse this decision and to set by decree a quota of birds that can be hunted.

She argued in particular that a draft decree put out for consultation by the Ministry of Ecological Transition (before the arrival of Barbara Pompili) initially planned to authorize this hunting for the 2020/21 season.

Rejection of the request

But the Council of State rejected this request, considering in particular that the decision is motivated by the doubts of the Minister on the compatibility of such a derogation with the European directive "

" of 2009. Directive which the Council of State has specifically asked at the end of 2019 to the Court of Justice of the EU to clarify the interpretation on any possible derogations.

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The answer being still awaited, the judge considered that the urgency invoked by the hunters could not be accepted "

" and therefore rejected the request. .

It is precisely these doubts about compliance with European legislation that the Elysee had put forward to explain the decision to reverse the allocation of quotas.

The Council of State has also rejected several other recourse for interim measures of the ecological association One Voice against other traditional hunts, those authorized by the State for the 2020-21 campaign: that of the lark on the slopes. (nets) and matoles (falling cages) in the departments of Gironde, Landes, Lot et Garonne and Pyrénées Atlantique;

that of lapwing, golden plovers, thrushes and blackbirds in the Ardennes.

The Council of State considered that the urgency was not characterized and therefore rejected the requests without ruling on the merits.