The European Commission is today expected to step up its infringement proceedings against Malta over the

country’s continued sanctioning of spring hunting, a Commission spokesman

confirmed to The Malta Independent yesterday.

As far as the Commission is concerned, the go-ahead for spring hunting to begin next month constitutes a breach of the EU’s Birds Directive for the third year running – since Malta joined the EU.

So far, Malta has been issued with a formal warning over what the EC considers as a failure to implement the Birds Directive.



The heat is expected to be turned up a notch today with the announcement of the issuance of a reasoned opinion on the matter to the Maltese government.

And considering the European Parliament’s endorsement last week of the EC’s hard stance against spring hunting in Malta, the decision is expected to be something of a foregone conclusion. What will remain to be seen, however, is the time frame in which the EC will allow Malta to reply to the reasoned opinion.

Malta, however, has yet to respond to the EC’s first warning, which was made close to nine months ago.

The decision expected today – and which will be announced either today or tomorrow – comes at a time when the government finds itself in a precarious position, having emphasised that its continued sanctioning of spring hunting is a fulfilment of the political mandate it had been given in the 2004 EU

referendum vote and in the following general election.

While the government has argued it had negotiated a derogation from the directive in the lead-up to EU accession, European environment commissioner Stavros Dimas did not mince his words when he spoke at the European Parliament last week, stressing that Malta benefits from no such derogation from the Birds Directive. He even went so far as to describe Malta’s attempts to tinker with regulations as the “perfect example of the ‘misimplementation’ of the Birds Directive”.

He also pointed out that what had been agreed between the parties in pre-accession talks was the fact that Malta had, and still has, the right to request a derogation from the directive, as does any EU member state, as long as certain strict conditions are fulfilled and are fully justified.

Mr Dimas also highlighted the fact that Malta had not requested any such derogation, but that Malta had instead gone ahead as though there had been a bilateral agreement and without providing any justification for the derogation as required by the directive.

According to the EC, Malta’s justification report, submitted in November 2005, fell short of providing a suitable explanation as to why the derogation should be extended in Malta’s case. In its justification report on spring hunting, Malta had contended that autumn hunting, as opposed to spring hunting, provided for limited hunting opportunities – an assessment with which the EC clearly disagrees.

As Malta appears to be caught in a technical wrangle with the Commission, the question of whether Malta has been justified in applying the derogation is expected to be decided eventually in the European Courts of Justice, where Malta has pledged to fight its stance on spring hunting tooth and nail.

Infringement proceedings had begun in June of last year, when the Commission issued Malta with a formal warning over its continued infringement of the EU’s Birds Directive.

Such a formal warning is the first step in legal action that can be taken against a member state and is followed by a so-called “reasoned opinion”, which the Commission is expected to publish today. The third and final step consists of bringing a member state before the European Court of Justice to resolve a pending dispute. It is only once a member state fails to comply with the Court’s decision that fines against that member state become applicable.

A high-level delegation, including senior staff from DG Environment, is also expected to visit Malta on 28 and 29 March to discuss the sensitive issue with government officials and other interested parties.