The European Union would like to see an end to Iceland’s practice of whaling. Morgunblaðið reports that the EU regrets Iceland’s decision to issue a quota for the whale cull.
Stavros Dimas, EU Commissioner for the Environment, expressed this message in response to a question posed by EU MP Robert Kilroy. The response was also given in written form to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
This isn’t the first time the EU has spoken out against Iceland’s whaling – the EC has in fact objected on every occasion that Iceland has culled whales. What action the EU plans to take remains to be seen, but Dimas has said the commission will use “every opportunity” to bring its side of the issue forward and communicate it to the Icelandic people.
Dimas is an a dedicated environmentalist, who has praised Greenpeace for “filling in the gaps in international law”, and has said of climate change that “It is clear that the fight against climate change is much more than a battle. It is a world war that will last for many years.”