Claims that the government is quoting a “secret” document, every time it tries to justify the “right” of Maltese hunters to hunt in spring, were rebutted by the government, which said that a copy of the document was presented in Parliament nearly three years ago.

Alternativa Demokratika spokesman on EU affairs Arnold Cassola said in a statement that it “is absurd that this EU document (CONF-M 110/02), to which the Maltese government is always referring, is not available to the public.”

AD said the request of Green MEP Bart Staes for this European Union Common Position (CONF-M 110/02) dated 27 September had received the following answer from the Malta-EU Information Centre: “This is not a public document. The requested details can be obtained by contacting the Ministry for Rural Affairs and Environment – EU Affairs Directorate.”

“The Maltese and Gozitans have joined the EU in order to get easy access to all information. Openness and transparency are keywords of the EU. We therefore demand that this ‘mysterious’ document be immediately made available for public scrutiny,” said Prof. Cassola.

In a statement issued later, the Department of Information said the document had been given to Parliament in January 2003 and all Prof. Cassola had to do was ask for a copy.