On 30 July 2026, Csaba Borboly, member of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and rapporteur on coexistence with large carnivores, organised an international expert workshop by videoconference.<\/p>\n
The event was attended by Romanian Deputy Prime Minister Barna T\u00e1nczos, a representative of the European Commission\u2019s Directorate-General for Environment, experts from Slovakia and the United States, members of the European Committee of the Regions, and representatives of several regions affected by growing brown bear populations.<\/p>\n
The discussion produced four particularly important outcomes:<\/p>\n
The workshop was deliberately organised online. Ahead of the European Commission\u2019s public consultation deadline of 10 August, key European and international stakeholders needed to be brought together rapidly, without the delays associated with travel and lengthy preparations.<\/p>\n
The online format made it possible to bring together representatives of the European Commission, the Romanian Government, affected regions, international experts and local decision-makers on the same screen.<\/p>\n
The meeting achieved concrete results that can now be incorporated into the European decision-making process before the upcoming debate of the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels.<\/p>\n
The most alarming moment of the workshop came when Andr\u00e1s Bartal, an official of the European Commission\u2019s Directorate-General for Environment, stated that almost every country concerned\u2014including Slovakia, Estonia, Finland and Sweden\u2014had completed the targeted consultation addressed to Member States in connection with the review, or \u201cstress test\u201d, of the Habitats Directive.<\/p>\n
Romania, however, had not submitted a response, even though the deadline for Member States had expired two weeks earlier.<\/p>\n
This is particularly concerning because Romania is among the EU countries most severely affected by the damage, injuries and human suffering associated with the growing bear population. Despite this, the country has not officially communicated what solutions or concrete measures it considers necessary regarding the implementation of the Habitats Directive.<\/p>\n
Andr\u00e1s Bartal explained that he had raised the issue during his most recent discussion with Romanian ministry officials. The only response he received was that the authorities would \u201cthink about it\u201d.<\/p>\n
Csaba Borboly also pointed out that the Romanian situation had been entirely absent from the materials presented at recent Large Carnivore Platform meetings in Finland and Belgium.<\/p>\n
According to the rapporteur, this suggests the existence of a \u201cspiral of silence\u201d, which could prevent Romania\u2019s real and well-documented circumstances from being properly considered in the European Commission\u2019s decision-making process.<\/p>\n
The available information includes at least five fatalities this year, dozens of serious injuries and extensive property damage.<\/p>\n
The workshop\u2019s second major outcome was the formulation of ten points on which the participants unanimously agreed.<\/p>\n
The central message was clear: brown bear overpopulation cannot be effectively managed from outside the affected regions through uniform rules. Solutions must be developed locally, using local expertise and capacity while taking regional circumstances into account.<\/p>\n
The participants agreed on the following points:<\/p>\n
The workshop\u2019s third major outcome was the participation and contribution of Deputy Prime Minister Barna T\u00e1nczos.<\/p>\n
He confirmed that the Romanian Government and Parliament would continue working to establish the legislative framework required for preventive measures and the effective application of Article 16 of the Habitats Directive.<\/p>\n
The Deputy Prime Minister, who is also serving as acting Minister of Agriculture, expressed his intention to continue cooperating with the European Commission on this issue.<\/p>\n
The statement is especially significant because legislation drafted at the initiative of Barna T\u00e1nczos had already been adopted by the Romanian Parliament with a majority of almost 90 per cent.<\/p>\n
The legislation was intended to facilitate preventive interventions and the application of Article 16. However, the President of Romania referred the law to the Constitutional Court.<\/p>\n
Although the Constitutional Court declared the legislation constitutional, it has still not been promulgated more than a month after the ruling.<\/p>\n
During the question-and-answer session, Andr\u00e1s Bartal confirmed that this is an internal Romanian matter in which the European Commission cannot intervene.<\/p>\n
The President will eventually have to choose between promulgating the legislation or returning it to Parliament for reconsideration.<\/p>\n
The fourth major outcome was the confirmation that the results of the workshop will be presented at the relevant European forums.<\/p>\n
In his closing remarks, Csaba Borboly emphasised that the purpose of the meeting was to identify the points on which Europe\u2019s different regions and Member States could agree.<\/p>\n
The online format made it possible to achieve this rapidly, before the European Commission\u2019s public consultation closes on 10 August.<\/p>\n
Representatives and experts from Romania, Slovakia and the United States participated in the discussion, alongside several members of the European Committee of the Regions, including Mariana G\u00eerju and Mr Zeman.<\/p>\n
According to the rapporteur, the workshop\u2019s conclusions may contribute directly to the decision-making process in Brussels and will be represented in every relevant European forum.<\/p>\n
The online consultation is the first concrete step in a process leading to the European Committee of the Regions\u2019 debate in Brussels on 29 September 2026. The work will continue there in person, with the participation of a broader group of stakeholders.<\/p>\n
Csaba Borboly announced that he would initiate the preparation of a new standalone report.<\/p>\n
According to the rapporteur, it is becoming increasingly clear that the legal and practical obstacles affecting the application of Article 16 must be addressed separately and in greater detail.<\/p>\n
The Romanian situation provides one of the most relevant and best-documented examples of these challenges.<\/p>\n
The European Commission\u2019s public consultation remains open until 10 August 2026<\/strong> and is available to all interested individuals and organisations.<\/p>\n Csaba Borboly encouraged participants, affected communities and stakeholders to submit their views before the deadline.<\/p>\n An in-person expert seminar will also be organised in Harghita County or elsewhere in the region during the autumn.<\/p>\n Building on the conclusions of the online workshop, the seminar will deepen professional cooperation, support the exchange of regional experience and contribute to preparations for the European Committee of the Regions\u2019 debate in Brussels on 29 September 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An international expert workshop held on 30 July 2026 brought together representatives of the European Commission, the Romanian Government, affected European regions and international experts. The participants identified four key outcomes that may directly influence the European decision-making process on coexistence with large carnivores.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,84],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hirek","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1965"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1967,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1965\/revisions\/1967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}