On 2 July 2026, the European Commission published a proposal for a Council Decision establishing the EU's position for the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meetings in 2026, 2028 and 2030, including inter-sessional meetings. The document, COM(2026)333, sets out a firm stance against commercial whaling while supporting Indigenous subsistence whaling under strict sustainability conditions. The proposal impacts EU member states, whaling nations, Indigenous communities, and conservation groups.
The proposal, prepared by the Directorate-General for Environment, is a legislative initiative that will be binding on EU member states once adopted by the Council. It mandates that the EU must support maintaining the commercial whaling moratorium and oppose any new whaling categories. The EU must also insist on strict application of the IWC's Revised Management Procedure (RMP) for catch limits and oppose proposals framing whaling as food security. Additionally, the EU should support port-state controls denying services to vessels engaged in unendorsed commercial whaling and national prohibitions barring operators under member-state jurisdiction from supporting commercial whaling.
The document reaffirms the EU's support for the International Court of Justice's 31 March 2014 judgment dividing whaling into three categories only and requires that special permit whaling comply with Resolution 2014-5 and Scientific Committee recommendations. The EU should support all proposals for whale sanctuaries and encourage transparency, as well as welfare measures on entanglements, ship strikes, strandings, whale watching, noise, and killing methods. On Indigenous subsistence whaling, the EU supports a rights-based approach while ensuring catch limits remain non-commercial and sustainable, including support for the 2018 seven-year ASW quota system with automatic renewals if conditions are met.
it strengthens whale conservation by opposing commercial whaling and promoting welfare measures, which benefits conservation groups and whale populations. However, it may strain relations with pro-whaling nations like Japan, Norway, and Iceland, which have historically opposed the moratorium. Indigenous communities could see their whaling rights protected but subject to strict oversight, potentially limiting flexibility. EU member states will have to align their national positions with the EU's stance, reducing their autonomy in IWC negotiations. The proposal now moves to the Council for adoption, after which it will guide EU representatives at the IWC meetings. No prior coverage of this file exists in the last 180 days.