{"id":1968,"date":"2026-08-04T13:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T13:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/?p=1968"},"modified":"2026-08-04T13:05:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T13:05:00","slug":"romania-is-falling-behind-final-days-of-the-eu-consultation-on-the-brown-bear-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/romania-is-falling-behind-final-days-of-the-eu-consultation-on-the-brown-bear-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"Romania Is Falling Behind: Final Days of the EU Consultation on the Brown Bear Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Only 16 of More Than 2,500 Responses Came from Romania<\/h2>\n

Bartal Andr\u00e1s, a representative of the European Commission\u2019s Directorate-General for Environment, stated in the background material presented at the press conference that more than 2,500 questionnaires<\/strong> had been submitted so far as part of the public consultation.<\/p>\n

Only 16 responses<\/strong> came from participants in Romania.<\/p>\n

This level of participation is practically negligible, despite the fact that Romania has the largest brown bear population in Europe and that further attacks resulting in human casualties have been recorded this year.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIt is pointless to expect people in Brussels to understand that we have a serious problem if we do not make even the minimum effort required to tell them about it,\u201d Borboly Csaba said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to the rapporteur, this passivity could prevent Romania\u2019s reality from being properly reflected in the European Commission\u2019s decision-making process.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Romania Has Not Yet Completed the Consultation for Member States<\/h2>\n

The situation is even more serious regarding the targeted consultation<\/strong>, which is addressed directly to EU Member States.<\/p>\n

As Bartal Andr\u00e1s explained, the European Commission held in-depth discussions with ten Member States concerning the stress test. Romania was not among them.<\/p>\n

Slovakia did participate, and its representatives highlighted problems related to the brown bear population, as did Finland, Estonia and Sweden.<\/p>\n

The targeted questionnaire has already been completed by almost all Member States. Romania, however, has not yet submitted its response, even though the deadline has already passed.<\/p>\n

This is particularly concerning because, at the end of June 2026, Romania and Slovakia jointly called on the European Commission, within the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, to examine the possibility of transferring the brown bear from Annex IV to Annex V of the Habitats Directive<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The targeted consultation would have been the appropriate official forum for Romania to demonstrate, through documents and concrete cases, why a revision of the species\u2019 protection status is necessary.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

The Ministry of Environment Has Not Yet Taken Action<\/h2>\n

Romania\u2019s Ministry of Environment is the country\u2019s official partner in the Nature Dialogue<\/strong> conducted with the European Commission in connection with the stress test.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Romania is not among the 17 Member States that have included funding for preventive measures related to large carnivores in their Common Agricultural Policy strategic plans.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

The Root of the Problem: Article 12 and Annex IV<\/h2>\n

During the press conference, Borboly Csaba emphasised what he described as the legal root of the problem.<\/p>\n

As long as the brown bear remains listed in Annex IV of the Habitats Directive<\/strong> and is therefore considered a strictly protected species under Article 12<\/strong>, any measure may be legally challenged and blocked in the Romanian judicial system.<\/p>\n

This applies regardless of whether the measure takes the form of:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • a law adopted by an overwhelming parliamentary majority;<\/li>\n
  • a government decision;<\/li>\n
  • a ministerial decision;<\/li>\n
  • or an administrative decision taken at another level.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Under the Romanian legal system, any interested party may bring a case before the courts. It is sufficient for the matter to be examined by a judge or judicial panel that approaches it exclusively from a nature-protection perspective, without considering public safety, public health or rural development interests.<\/p>\n

    This is precisely what happened with the so-called bear law<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    The legislation on intervention and prevention quotas, adopted by Parliament, was referred to the Constitutional Court by President Nicu\u0219or Dan. Although the Court declared the law constitutional, it has still not been promulgated.<\/p>\n

    \n

    \u201cEveryone must understand this: Brussels is offering us an opportunity, but if we do not explain what the problem is, action cannot be taken. Most Member States do not face the same situation as Romania, which is why they do not understand it. They say that all the necessary possibilities already exist: we should act, protect people and animals, and manage wildlife populations responsibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    \n

    \u201cYet we can see that this is not possible in practice in Romania as long as Article 12 and Annex IV remain unchanged and as long as the Carpathian brown bear remains listed there,\u201d Borboly Csaba said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    <\/h2>\n

    T\u00e1nczos Barna\u2019s Role: Successful Action in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council<\/h2>\n

    Borboly Csaba also highlighted the role and effective work of Deputy Prime Minister T\u00e1nczos Barna<\/strong>, who is currently serving as interim Minister of Agriculture.<\/p>\n

    At the end of June 2026, acting on behalf of Romania and together with Slovakia, T\u00e1nczos Barna initiated a discussion in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on revising the brown bear\u2019s protection status.<\/p>\n

    He was also the initiator of the bear law, which was adopted by Parliament with a majority of almost 90 per cent<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    According to Borboly Csaba, the current situation requires precisely this type of determined, coordinated action at several levels:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • within the Council of the European Union;<\/li>\n
    • at parliamentary level;<\/li>\n
    • at governmental level;<\/li>\n
    • and at regional level.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      The objective is to make decision-makers in Brussels understand that Romania not only has a broad consensus on the seriousness of the problem, but also has a specific law-enforcement and judicial framework that can prevent already-adopted measures from being implemented in practice.<\/p>\n

      Cooperation is therefore required at the European, governmental and regional levels<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

      <\/h2>\n

      Next Step: A New Report by the European Committee of the Regions<\/h2>\n

      Borboly Csaba announced that the European Committee of the Regions is expected to initiate the preparation of a new report on the subject.<\/p>\n

      The report would specifically address obstacles related to the implementation of legislation, including the practical problems created by Article 12 and Annex IV of the Habitats Directive<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

      <\/h2>\n

      Final Days: Every Opinion Matters<\/h2>\n

      The public consultation closes on 10 August 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

      Borboly Csaba is calling on all residents of Romania, regardless of age, gender or occupation, to complete the questionnaire if they have experience of or an opinion on the brown bear issue.<\/p>\n

      Only a few days remain for Romanian citizens to make their voices heard.<\/p>\n

      The Large Carnivore Information Platform<\/strong>, available at ursharghita.ro<\/strong>, provides:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • a step-by-step guide;<\/li>\n
      • the direct registration link;<\/li>\n
      • and instructions for completing the questionnaire.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        The necessary steps and the direct link are available on the platform under the section dedicated to the stress test questionnaire<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

        <\/h2>\n

        What Happens After the Consultation?<\/h2>\n

        Following the closure of the consultation:<\/p>\n

          \n
        • a reality-check event<\/strong> and discussions with Member States and stakeholders are scheduled for September;<\/li>\n
        • the European Commissioner for Environment is expected to organise an implementation dialogue at the end of October;<\/li>\n
        • and the final stress-test report is expected by the end of 2026.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          According to Borboly Csaba, every week in which Romania fails to make its voice heard represents another lost opportunity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Borboly Csaba, rapporteur of the European Committee of the Regions on coexistence with large carnivores and Vice-President of Harghita County Council, held a press conference on the EU-wide \u201cstress test\u201d of the Habitats and Birds Directives.
          \nThe central message was clear: Romania is one of the countries most severely affected by brown bear-related problems, including human casualties and serious public-safety concerns, yet Romanian participation in the consultation is almost non-existent.
          \nThe public questionnaire can be completed only until 10 August 2026. These are the final days in which the real situation in Romania can be brought to the attention of decision-makers in Brussels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1969,"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-1968","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\/1968","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=1968"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1970,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968\/revisions\/1970"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}