A high level delegation from the European Commission is expected to be in Malta today and tomorrow to discuss a set of environmental issues with the government and other stakeholders.

And although the delegation will include top personnel from the directorate-general for the environment, the issue of spring hunting is not expected to be on the agenda for its meetings with government officials. The reason for the exclusion of this issue is that, as far as the Commission is concerned, there is nothing to discuss or negotiate, since Malta insists on continuously breaching the EU’s Birds Directive and the legal infringement process already underway was expanded just last week.

Instead, the Commission delegation is expected to raise the issue of law enforcement as far as hunting practices are concerned, as well as the government’s rationalisation of development zones in terms of the EU’s Habitats Directive.

The issue of trapping is also expected to be on the agenda. The government had been given a five-year transitional period in which to phase out the practice, as long as certain conditions were met. These included the registration of all trapping sites and the

development of a captive breeding programme. It is not known to what extent, if any, either condition has been met.