The European Commission will today announce the opening of European Court action against Malta for repeated violation of the 1979 Birds Directive, after the country permitted hunting in spring for each year since its accession to the Union in 2003.
In a terse statement to be published this morning, the Commission expresses its dissatisfaction with Malta’s failure to phase out of hunting in spring – an illegal practice according to European law – and announces that action will now be taken against Malta in the European Courts of Justice.
The Commission also warns that, even if the case may take years to conclude, the European Court will be requested to take interim measures to put an immediate halt to spring hunting, should the Government of Malta’s insist on opening the season again this year.
Similar action was taken last year against Poland, after the government failed to respond to the Commission’s reasoned opinion on a construction project in the environmentally sensitive Rospuda valley during the breeding season. The European Court issued a specific order to halt construction works while the case was ongoing.
Well-placed sources in Brussels have suggested that the same will apply to Malta, if it carries on playing for time on this controversial issue.
The Commission’s decision comes in the wake of a final written warning to Malta in October 2007 regarding the hunting of quail (Maltese: “summien”) and turtledove (“gamiem”) during spring. The government officially replied in January 2008, and although the text has not since been made available, it is evident from today’s decision that the Commission was not satisfied with the response.
The government has long argued that, like any other member state, Malta is free to apply for a derogation from the Birds Directive under the terms of Article 9. This right was specified in the Accession Treaty on the negotiators’ insistence in 2003.
But Malta has never to date actually applied for, still less been granted, any such derogation for spring hunting. On its part, the European Commission has repeatedly stressed that exceptions can only be made in cases where no viable alternatives exist. In this case, the Commission believes that alternative solutions to spring hunting do exist, citing the possibility to hunt the two species concerned during the autumn migration.
Commenting on the Commission’s action, Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: “It is fundamental for the preservation of biodiversity in the European Union that laws on the hunting of wild birds are adhered to by all Member States. I urge Malta to take the necessary steps to comply with its obligations under EU law.”
Contacted last week, Environment Minister George Pullicino said he was still waiting for the recommendations of the Ornis Committee before deciding on the spring hunting season, which traditionally opens around March 25.
Malta’s spring hunting fortunes contrast sharply with those of Finland and Cyprus; two other member states to argue in favour of permitting limited hunting during the breeding season.
Finland had likewise been threatened with infringement procedures for defying community law. In 2005, the ECJ ruled that Finland had failed to fulfil its obligations under the Birds Directive because the hunting of certain species – mainly wild ducks and geese – in Finland during spring. In December 2007, Finland informed the Commission that legislation complying with the directive had been adopted. The Commission has therefore closed the case against Finland.
In October 2007, the Commission closed another case concerning spring hunting in Cyprus, after the Cypriot authorities agreed not to adopt new legislation permitting the practice.
Malta now remains the only EU member State to allow hunting in spring: a position which continues to undermine the country’s international reputation, and which now may cost the country millions of euros in ECJ fines.

rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt