'Shoot-'em-up' bill puts right-wing Meloni government on collision course with Brussels
MILAN – Italy’s Senate has approved a controversial overhaul of the country’s hunting law, advancing legislation that has drawn warnings from European institutions over a potential breach of EU and international nature protection rules.
Passed by 80 votes to 56, with two abstentions, the bill now moves to the Chamber of Deputies, where Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s governing coalition also holds a majority.
The reform rewrites legislation that has regulated hunting in Italy since 1992. Notable, it defines hunting as an activity “useful to the conservation and protection of biodiversity and ecosystems” and rebrands hunters as “bioregulators”.
It also downgrades the opinions of ISPRA, Italy’s environmental research institute, which currently carry legal weight but would be merely advisory under the new regime.
