The European Commission is to take a final decision today on hauling Malta before the European Court of Justice over the issue of spring hunting, contrary to reports published in other sections of the media that a decision was to be issued yesterday.
A Commission spokesperson confirmed with The Malta Independent yesterday that, “The whole infringement package will be decided upon tomorrow (Thursday).” The main substance of the next phase of the infringement proceedings against Malta has not changed, and the decision is thought to have been delayed by a day over a technicality.
In its announcement today, the Commission is expected to confirm it is to bring Malta before the ECJ for having violated the Wild Birds Directive, by allowing a spring hunting season, for the four years running since Malta acceded to the European Union in 2004.
The Commission is also expected to ask the ECJ to bar Malta from opening this year’s and future spring hunting seasons, until the court case is concluded and the verdict delivered.
The EC had given Malta a final warning in October to cease the practice of spring hunting this year, unless it could provide scientific evidence justifying the practice in that no alternative season exists.
In its final warning letter the Commission had reiterated its long stated stance that the hunting of Malta’s two legally hunted species – turtledove and quail – could clearly be done in autumn instead of the spring breeding season, a notion the hunters’ lobby stands foursquare against.
Earlier this month Malta issued its final reply to the EC, which has apparently left the EC unconvinced.
While court proceedings against Malta could last up to two years, the interim measure banning spring hunting could be issued by the courts within a matter of days or weeks.
If Malta eventually loses the case, it could be slapped with potentially heavy punitive fines, possibly for every day in which Malta infringed the EU’s Bird Directive.
October’s final written warning followed Malta’s first written warning on spring hunting in July 2006, which had observed, “Currently, laws in Malta allow the hunting of the birds during spring, a key period of migration and breeding. In taking this step, the Commission is asking Malta to bring its rules on hunting in line with the EU’s Wild Birds Directive.
“The hunting of these migratory birds (turtledove and quail) takes place during their return from Africa to breeding grounds in Europe, before they have had a chance to reproduce.
“The impact on bird numbers is therefore more significant than it would be in autumn or winter, after the breeding season. The Commission believes that alternative solutions to spring hunting exist, in this case the possibility to hunt the two species in the autumn.”
Hunting in the EU is regulated by the 1979 Wild Birds Directive, which holds a general prohibition on the killing of wild birds but allows the hunting of certain species “provided this does not happen during breeding or migration”.