Press Release: Italy: Commission seeks urgent injunction to prevent hunting of protected birds; takes court action over missing industrial permits

The Commission has called on the European Court of Justice to issue an injunction against Italy to prevent the hunting of protected bird species in the Lombardy region. Court action is already pending against a number of regions, including Lombardy, for the practice of allowing hunting derogations which do not comply with the strict conditions laid down in EU law. However, the Commission has decided to take urgent action after Lombardy passed new legislation which allows the hunting of four protected species until 31 December 2009. In a separate case, the Commission is taking Italy to the European Court of Justice for failing to issue or update permits for several hundred industrial operations.