By Jacob Borg and Neil Camilleri in Brussels

The Environment Committee has approved Karmenu Vella's nomination to serve as environment, maritime and fisheries commissioner.

Mr Vella struggled at times to answer certain questions during yesterday's European Parliamentary grilling, but said this was all part of his "genuine" approach and commitment to learn.

It was very much a tale of two hearings, with Mr Vella being judged weak and vague in his answers on the environment, and much stronger and more confident on the maritime affairs and fisheries part of his portfolio.

"I wanted to be sincere. If I came here pretending that I know everything about the two dossiers that they gave me, probably they would not even believe me. I was being genuine. I do have a lot more work to do.

"I do have a lot more work to do when it comes to discussing with the services and even more with MEPs themselves. "A lot of the information I got I did not get from the dossiers but from the MEPs, so I look forward to working with the MEPs as well, Mr Vella said after the hearing." Mr Vella said: "I did my best".

Will you stop the Maltese from killing our birds, MEP asks

Mr Vella has been tasked with evaluating the Birds Directive by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, but Mr Vella was non-committal when question by various MEPs about what the review will entail.

"I myself am neither a hunter nor a bird trapper. With regards to the Birds Directive, habitats directive and any other directive, abuse will not be tolerated," he told Dutch European People's Party member Ivo Belet.

Mr Vella pointed out that most interpretations of the Birds Directive stem from around 30 court cases. Science has come on in leaps and bounds since the Directive first came into force 35 years ago, he said.

British Liberal MEP Catherine Bearder asked Mr Vella whether he would be prepared to take action in order to stop the Maltese "from killing our birds."

He told Ms Bearder that as Tourism Minister, he used to face daily complaints about the hunting issue from tourists.

"I can give my commitment again that I will do whatever it takes not only to the country I know best but each and every Member State," he replied.

German MEP of the European United Left was not at all impressed by Mr Vella's answers on the proposed modernisation on the Birds Directive.

MEP Stefan Eck is on Mr Vella's case for his fluffy answer about the modernisation of the Birds Directive.

"We are not revising but we are only reviewing. Again we will have time to discuss this in more detail," Mr Vella said again.

Vella leaps to the 'country he know best's' defence

Throughout the hearing, Mr Vella drilled home the point that he will not shy away from opening infringement proceedings against any country that does not fulfil its environmental obligations.

He said "the country I know best" is at times criticised for its track record on the environment, yet it actually has one of the lowest number of infringements at just five last year, when compared to over 20 in certain other countries.

Luxembourger Green MEP Claude Turmes questioned whether Mr Juncker instructed Mr Vella not to commit to any new measures to protect the environment.

"If I do not give any commitments today, it is not because I have been given instruction to do so. I cannot start offering commitments "left, right and centre" without being sure that I can deliver on them," Mr Vella replied.

He called for a change in the old mentality of economists and environmentalists facing off against each other. 

"I do not see this need to fight for the economic sector or to fight for the environmental sector. The way forward is to get these two together, they can mutually build on each other's positive points, and I think that is the idea of moving forward with blue growth and the green economy, in the sense that one sector can help the other."

"We are not emphasising growth, we are emphasising sustainable growth. That is where the environment can play a very proactive role," Mr Vella said after the hearing.

No opinion on animal testing

One of the worst clangers dropped by Mr Vella was his lack of opinion on animal testing. He said he is not yet "comfortable" with his knowledge of the subject, despite studying the relevant dossiers for two weeks.