The European Commission yesterday clarified a number of points with regard to Malta’s obligations on hunting, in particular the EU’s legislation, the Birds Directive and the Commission’s position regarding its implementation, said BirdLife Malta in a statement yesterday.

A meeting was held in Brussels yesterday between the Commission and Maltese authorities to discuss the issue of hunting in Malta. Representatives of the hunters, FKNK/FACE, and BirdLife attended the meeting as observers. The three issues on the agenda of the meeting were spring hunting, trapping and illegal hunting.

“Malta’s breach of the Birds Directive is of high concern for the whole partnership of BirdLife International across Europe,” said BirdLife European Division head Clairie Papazoglou. “We welcome the commitment of the commission to proceed with the legal procedure opened against Malta last year.”

BirdLife has asked for the immediate ban of spring hunting and urged the commission and the Maltese government to take the appropriate action.

In June 2006, the European Commission opened an infringement procedure against the Maltese government for allowing spring hunting without fulfilling the requirements of the Birds Directive. To date, and despite extended deadlines, Malta has not yet responded to the Commission’s first written warning.

On the issue of the trapping of finches in Malta, the Commission stated that the transition period, under the EU Accession Treaty, will expire at the end of December 2008. BirdLife said it would welcome evidence of progress on the development of captive breeding programmes, which were mentioned by the Maltese government and are required by the Accession Treaty.

The NGO said it welcomed the fact that the European Commission also stressed the importance of law enforcement in Malta to clamp down on illegal hunting. To date, many complaints have been received by the Commission from European citizens and Members of the European Parliament, it said.

BirdLife Malta conservation manager Dr André Raine, who attended yesterday’s meeting said: “We hope that the Maltese government will outlaw spring hunting once and for all and not risk the country being taken to the European Court of Justice.”

BirdLife called on the Maltese authorities and the EC to take immediate and effective action to put an end to spring hunting and the hunting of birds that are protected under the Maltese legislation and EU law.