PL MEP candidate Steve Ellul said that he is against hunting abuse, but also says that there are certain fines related to hunting that are 'exorbitant'.

In an interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday, Ellul was asked for his position on spring hunting. "Hobbies in Malta are something that characterise us as Maltese." He said that he is against abuse as regulations are there to be followed. "But I am also against not giving Maltese hunters the opportunity to exercise their hobby."

"I come from a family of hunters and know the passion and love they have for this hobby. I know how many hunters there are, the great majority of whom are very serious about it. I think, and this is my position on hunting, we need to protect their rights to practise their hobby." 

He again said that he is against abuse, saying “it’s not on” to shoot flamingos. "For me, abuse isn't tolerable," he said. 

However, he said that he doesn't feel it right that there are "exorbitant" and "disproportionate" fines when it comes to hunting. "We have a situation where there are hunters who are being treated worse than certain criminals. I'm not saying we should condone abuse, absolutely not, and if there are mistakes it is good that there are fines, but not fines that are exorbitant." 

It was put to him that while he is talking about the need to cut down illegal hunting, he is also advocating for cutting the deterrent. He said: "It is important that there is a deterrent and that it is proportionate, commensurate with the crime." The shooting of flamingos is “a very serious case where one not only has fines, but there is the right to revoke a licence as happens. But then there are less serious issues," he said, mentioning as an example, a hunter being caught with more cartridges than permitted. "There, I feel it is good to have fines and a deterrent," but adds that they need to be “just and commensurate with the act."

Project Green

Ellul was appointed as the first CEO of Project Green in January 2023. Ellul resigned from the post in January 2024, shortly before being approved by the Labour Party as a candidate for the EU elections.  Asked about criticism that he was placed in Project Green to build up his profile for the EU elections, Ellul said: "If I wanted to use Project Green for my electoral campaign I wouldn't have resigned. I would still be there. Like there are many PN MPs who, as we speak, are on the payroll of government agencies and departments, and nobody is asking those questions.”

“The question I think people have is, what happened while I was at Project green, and I think the results are there for all to see. 16 projects are being rolled out and work is being carried out on them now,” he said. 10 projects equivalent to around the size of six football pitches have been completed. "For example, there was a dumping site in Zabbar. We created nearly 5,000sqm of new open space in its stead," he said.

Asked whether there were already talks about him contesting the EU elections when he was appointed as head of Project Green, he said "no, my candidacy for the EU Parliament was submitted after I stopped working at Project Green." Further asked about the issue, he said: "When I was appointed CEO of Project Green my objective was, until my last day there, to move all the priorities of the agency forward, and we achieved results that are there for all to see. So much so that at the time, in January 2023, the PL applications for nominations to contest the election had not even opened yet."

Asked to clarify when talks about him contesting started, he said "it wasn't a decision I took lightly. For me it was important that, once I started my campaign, I would not hold an executive role in a government agency. Unfortunately, today as we speak, and nobody is asking these questions, there are people campaigning for the EU Parliament elections who are on the PN ticket who are on the government payroll."  

Three priorities

Turning to his EU priorities, he has three he wants to tackle.

The first regards one size fits all policies. He mentioned the need for EU policies and directives to take Malta's characteristics into consideration. "We are the smallest member state. We cannot have one-size fits all policies that do not fit the characteristics of our country.” He said that one issue the European Commission has stressed on is for Malta to reconsider its energy stability policy. “Our country is cut off from the rest of Europe and does not have natural resources. We have very few economic levers we can use to take important positions and make a difference. If we were to take that position, we would automatically throw people into energy poverty."

This, he said, does not mean that Malta would go against the direction of the EU. Mentioning carbon neutrality as an example, he said that he wants to reach that goal.

The second key priority, he said, is the economic transition. "Like other countries we have a legal commitment to be carbon neutral by 2050. If we have the flexibility or elbow room to take decisions to incentivize small businesses and self-employed, then we can change our economic model long before bigger countries, because we are small and nimble. We can be fast. Key priority number two is to, in the EU Parliament, push for directives to incentivize businesses to make the leap."

His third key priority relates to peace, "to better convince Europe to put all possible energy into reaching peaceful solutions. I am not saying that we need to succumb to what Russia is asking. What Russia did is infamous, and we do well to stop Russia. You cannot invade another country. But we should put the same level of energy we are using to stop Russia, into finding solutions for peace. That is something I am not seeing at EU level. We speak a lot about how many armaments we will send and how we will invest in missiles. My fear is that if we don't invest in peace, we could end up, without enough thought, in a situation where we are throwing ourselves into danger of a bigger war."

The Labour Party has criticised EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola for her statements about EU defence spending. On such a statement, he said that his argument is that "if you want peace, you have to work for peace." 

Asked how he would work for peace, he said: "When we had the war in Kosovo in the late 90s, the EU and UN wanted to find a solution. The EU and UN had sent a special envoy, an Ambassador for Peace, the Finnish President at the time. It sent the envoy, and peace was achieved (…) When it wants to find solutions the EU finds them. Why are we afraid this time? Malta is the smallest country in the EU. With our neutrality and with our argumentation in favour of peace, today we are a member of the UN Security Council and hold the OSCE Presidency. Imagine what strength the EU could have to bring people around the table. Have you heard any of the EU leaders speak about the possibility of bringing people from Ukraine and Russia round the table and find solutions?”

He said that the Russian invasion is not excusable. "Russia cannot invade Ukraine or any other country. We can open an argument as to why Russia invaded, and there could be a debate there, but that is beyond the point. What I care about is that our generation and those to come after live in a peaceful Europe.” He expressed concern that at EU political level, "when it comes to particular people who have strength, he is not seeing this drive and is seeing too much of a drive on arms but not same energy on peace."

Joseph Muscat

Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had said that he was considering contesting the EU MEP elections. Told that under Joseph Muscat's tenure, while the economy did well, there were international reputation issues, for example Malta being greylisted by the FATF and the hospitals deal which ended up being declared fraudulent by the court, he was asked whether he believes Muscat standing as a candidate would damage the country's reputation. 

"This country worked hard over the past years to not only exit greylisting and learn from the situation, but exit it in the quickest time that any country ever has. It was under the leadership of Robert Abela that we found solutions. Regarding Joseph Muscat, he is a citizen like all of us who has a sacrosanct right to contest an election if he wants to. Nobody will convince me that a Maltese citizen, like Joseph Muscat, doesn't have this right. I think that we need to accept that he has the right to take his decisions about how he wants to contribute to the country. If he wants to contribute in the private sector like he is now, he has a right to do it, [as he also has a right] if he wants to again contribute in the public sector like he successfully had done. Why do the people like Joseph Muscat? Because he left a positive impact on people's lives. Like every citizen, he has a right to choose how to contribute to the country."

Asked whether the PL should allow him to contest on its ticket, he said that the PL has an internal process which he is not a part of as a candidate. "I don't think its fair on the PL to have one of its candidates suggest how the PL should decide. But Joseph Muscat has a right to, if he wants to throw in his nomination, to do so." He went on to raise his concern about how investigations regarding Muscat are treated, saying he feels there are "two-weights-two-measures" being used as certain people seem to be privy to knowledge regarding the investigation through what they post on Facebook, also mentioning that a Repubblika exponent was outside Muscat's home before a search took place. "Can someone explain to me if this is not a rule of law flaw?"

Farmers protest

Asked about the farmers protest, he said that he very much agrees with points farmers are raising. One point farmers raise regards Europe’s signing of trade agreements with third countries. “Trade agreements aren't on farming but on many subjects, for example to stabilise certain countries to reduce irregular migration, and in many of these countries agriculture is a major sector. So Europe says it will try to strengthen their economy by importing agricultural products from there. What Europe is not realising is that when it signs these agreements, the farmers in third countries do not have the same obligations regarding standards and quality that Maltese and European farmers have." On one hand, he said, Maltese and European farmers are being burdened with regulations and quality standards, "which our farmers want as they are proud of quality but is costly, and at the same time opening the doors wide to have low quality importation at a lower price."

"I am not against trade agreements, but against the insensitivity of the EU when it comes to the impact of these trade agreements on particular sectors, particularly vulnerable ones like agriculture.”

Secondly, he mentioned state aid rules. "Here farmers also have a point. Many-a-time, the Maltese government would want to help, even financially. But because of State Aid regulations, Europe would say that a country cannot help farmers more than a certain amount financially. The problem Europe isn't seeing is that Maltese farmers have unique characteristics that are different from farmers in Germany or France. Our land is limited, so a Maltese farmer can never have the economies of scale a French farmer has. The state aid regulation for Malta needs to fit Malta, we cannot put Maltese farmers in the same basket as German farmers."

"Farmers mentioned also that there need to be checks on products imported from EU countries, and I agree. We need to be more disciplined," he said.