The figures are already controversial. Public aid granted to the National Federation of Hunters (FNC) jumped from 27,000 euros in 2017 to 6.3 million euros in 2021, according to figures published in the Official Journal on August 8, and spotted a few days afterwards via the lanceurdalerte.org website.
At the same time, other advantages have been accumulated by hunters since the election of Emmanuel Macron in 2017. Le Parisien (article reserved for subscribers) thus recalls that the cost of the hunting license has been halved, going from 400 to 200 euros, and thus attracting new hunters and exploding the revenue from contributions. The organization’s revenues were thus 28 million in 2020 and 2021, according to the daily, against 11 million on average in previous years.
“There have been far too many giveaways. The new government needs to rebalance things and stop saying yes to all their demands, especially on traditional hunts”deplores the former ecologist deputy Matthieu Orphelin, in the columns of the newspaper.
For his part, Willy Schraen, president of the hunting organization, assures that “everything is transparent and there is not a euro of public money that is not used wisely”. He justifies the increase in public aid by ensuring that it is linked to the new hunting law of 2019, in which it is requested “to take charge of the management of approved municipal hunting associations and the allocation of individual hunting plans, missions formerly exercised by the prefects”Explain The Parisian.
From the start of his mandate, Emmanuel Macron gave an important place to hunters, advised in particular by Thierry Coste, professional lobbyist, defender of French hunters. In 2018, he notably spoke out in favor of the return of presidential hunts, considering them a “attractive tool” of French culture.
The same year, he agreed to halve the annual fee for the famous hunting license, a decision seen by many as a “present” to hunters.