EU takes Austria to court over wild bird hunting

\"I urge Austria to end quickly the unjustified killing of birds of prey in Lower Austria,\" EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom said in a statement to announce the court action. The state of Lower Austria regularly gives hunters exemptions from the European Union\'s 1979 wild birds directive, allowing them to kill protected buzzards and harriers, it said. The birds directive is the EU\'s oldest conservation law and enrages many hunters in Europe by imposing limits on their sport. The Commission is involved in a long-running legal battle with France over its hunting season. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE