Brussels eases lumpy skin disease curbs in eastern France cattle zones

The European Commission has amended the emergency measures against infection with lumpy skin disease virus in France, removing the regions of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté from the strictest vaccination zone. The change is contained in Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/2215 of 28 September 2026, published in the Official Journal of the European Union (L series, 2026/2215) on 1 October 2026. The decision was notified to the French authorities under document C(2026) 6963 and only the French text is authentic.

The measure replaces Annex II to Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1708, the act that has governed emergency measures against lumpy skin disease in France since 29 July 2025 and which repealed Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1336. It was adopted under Article 259(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/429, the EU Animal Health Law, and follows the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed. The decision is signed by Olivér Várhelyi, Member of the Commission, and is addressed to the French Republic.

What changes for French farmers

• Areas in the regions of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté are no longer listed as vaccination zone II and are instead listed as vaccination zone I in Part B of Annex II.
• According to the information provided by France, restrictions linked to outbreaks of lumpy skin disease virus no longer apply in those areas.
• Vaccination there is to continue in accordance with France’s official vaccination plan, submitted under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/361.
• The Commission states the amendments should apply as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary disturbance to trade within the Union or unjustified barriers to trade with third countries.

Where controls still apply

Vaccination zone II, where outbreak-related restrictions remain in force, now covers municipalities in the regions of Occitanie and Nouvelle Aquitaine, until the last day of the recovery period set out in Part 4 of Annex IX to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/361:

• Pyrénées Orientales and Ariège departments, in full.
• Haute Garonne, Hautes Pyrénées, Gers, Aude, Tarn, Herault and Pyrénées Atlantiques departments, in whole or in part.

Vaccination zone I, where no outbreak-linked restrictions apply, comprises:

• The entire territory of Corsica, until the last day of the recovery period.
• The departments of Aude, Haute Garonne, Gers, Herault, Pyrénées Atlantiques, Tarn and Landes, excluding the municipalities listed in Annex I and Part A of Annex II.
• Municipalities in Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Ain, Isère, Jura, Rhône, Loire, Saône et Loire, Côte d’Or, Haute-Saône and Doubs.

The disease and the legal framework

Infection with lumpy skin disease virus is an infectious, vector-borne disease affecting bovine animals. The Commission notes it can have a severe impact on the affected animal population and on the profitability of farming, disturbing movements of animals and their products within the Union and exports to third countries, with a serious risk of spread to other holdings because of its main mode of transmission through vectors.

The disease is classified as a category A disease under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1882. Articles 21 and 22 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/687 require the establishment of a restricted zone — comprising at least a protection zone and a surveillance zone — in the event of an outbreak. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/361 distinguishes vaccination zone I, where no outbreak-linked restrictions apply, from vaccination zone II, where they do. Annex II to Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1708 had last been amended by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/662 of 13 March 2026.

The decision matters beyond the farm gate: it redraws the map of French cattle movement controls and vaccination obligations, easing the burden on producers in two eastern regions while keeping the south-west under the tighter regime, and it is the reference point EU trading partners will use when judging French bovine consignments.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 2026/2215, 1 October 2026, section I (official reference: Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/2215; ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2026/2215/oj).