Malta stuck to its guns yesterday after the European Commission decided to re-engage the island in a legal dispute over the government’s plan for a three-week spring hunting season next year.
The Commission’s decision comes just a year after a European Court of Justice decided that Malta had breached the Birds Directive by allowing a full hunting season to take place in spring but that autumn was not a sufficient alternative, leaving open the possibility for a spring season to be allowed.
Last spring, the government allowed a very limited season of a week’s duration, during which hunters could bag 7,500 turtle doves and quails but has since announced plans to open the season for three weeks in which a maximum 25,000 turtle doves and quails can be shot. The Commission holds this would not comply with the court ruling and yesterday issued a letter of formal notice threatening to drag Malta back to court “to request financial penalties”.
The government said yesterday: “Malta submits that the framework legislation fully respects the conservation objectives and the principle of proportionality required by the (Birds) Directive and upheld by the ECJ judgment.
“Malta will continue its dialogue with the Commission to understand any concerns the Commission might still have.”
The row between the Commission and Malta, which, if taken to the ECJ again, could translate into a fine amounting to millions of euros, revolves around numbers. The Commission accepts in principle that Malta has a right to allow a limited spring hunting season, similar to this year’s, but it does not agree with the three-week, 25,000-bird scenario.
It gave three main reasons for its action: in the framework legislation “there is no obligation to consider the conservation status of the species in question when setting bag limits; there is no provision to consider the possibilities for autumn hunting in that year before opening a spring season; and the maximum limits established in the legislation do not suffice to ensure the maintenance of the population of the species concerned at a satisfactory level”.
The Commission has given the island two months to respond.
Commission sources said the framework legislation introduced last April did not fully respect the ECJ decision, particularly when it came to proportionality: “The 25,000 birds in spring are way too many for us and we will take Malta to court if it permits such a season. According to us, the framework law is illegal and we want Malta to change it.”
Last spring, the government had originally intended to allow a three-week season and a national bag limit of up to 25,000 birds. It had sought to reach an agreement with the Commission before the season got under way but Brussels kept resisting its demands. Instead, Malta opted for a much more restrained season to make sure it did not push the Commission into taking it to court, hoping it would reach some sort of agreement later.
The island is now back to square one and avoiding further escalation of the issue looks like an uphill struggle if it sticks to its present stand.