Ministers defend hunters and anglers

Most European Union countries reject the prohibition on the usage of lead in fishing and fishing proposed by Brussels.

The draft fresh regulation was discussed at the gathering of the Ministers of Agriculture in Brussels on Monday. At the request of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the vast majority of countries rejected the European Commission's proposal to ban lead in hunting ammunition and fishing equipment.

Ministers criticised the thought that specified regulation would endanger food safety and even the defence readiness of the European Union. EU Environment Commissioner Jessica Roswall defended the proposal drawn up by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), stressing that it is based on a technological hazard assessment...

The European Commission presented a proposal 3 months ago for a complete ban on lead in fishing and fishing. Now individual ministers have expressed their reservations, pointing to the immense economical costs that will be borne by the ammunition industry. The possible decommissioning of businesses and the simplification of production will in their opinion have a negative impact on European defence, recreational fishing and management of species of chaotic game...

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Among another things, the Minister of Agriculture of Spain stressed that, in the current situation, the ban will prevent the simplification of chaotic boars in his country, and the expanding numbers of this species represent a real hazard to agriculture. Greece, Portugal, Italy, Austria and Latvia expressed concern about the deficiency of alternatives to lead. However, Sweden questioned the reliability of the technological data utilized to justify this decision.

Overall, after listening to all the arguments the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Latvia, Italy, Sweden, Hungary, Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania and Finland objected to this proposal. In total, the European Commission has been alone with the task behind which anti-fishing organisations are behind.

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The results of the vote clearly show that the proposed regulation does not have adequate support to implement it!

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