LEEUWARDEN, 17/02/01 - The Dutch fauna protection foundation has entered a complaint to the European Commission against the Dutch agriculture ministry. The foundation wants a ban on collecting plovers' eggs. It considers that the province of Friesland must drop its age-old tradition.

The nature organization bases its case on the European Bird Act, under which egg-collecting is not allowed, according to the organization. "We consider the Frisian tradition wrong in principle and also outdated," according to a spokesman.

In the new Flora and Fauna Act, the agriculture ministry left the decision on whether to allow or ban the collection of plovers' eggs to the provinces themselves. Since then, only Friesland has decided to allow collecting plovers' eggs, because the tradition is already centuries old. Collection is permitted up to 9 April at the latest. By tradition, the first plover's egg is presented every year to the King or Queen.