Updated 6.45pm, adds hunters' statement
Brussels has threatened to take Malta to court over the trapping of songbirds, which it says violates conservation laws.
The European Commission said it had sent the Maltese government a legal opinion on the practice of trapping finches, and gave it one month to reply or possibly face action before the European Court of Justice.
In a brief statement, the government said it will analyse the opinion and subsequently provide a technical and legal response. It said it remains committed to protect the rights of hunters and trappers with full respect for the law.
In 2018, the European Court of Justice effectively banned the long-time practice in Malta of trapping protected songbirds.
The Luxembourg court declared that, by allowing the live capture of seven species of protected wild finches, Malta had been failing to fulfil its conservation obligations under the EU’s Wild Birds Directive.
Still, the government last year went ahead and opened a season under the guise of a scientific study to ring birds and re-release them.
In March Times of Malta reported that the government had written to the Commission to inform it that it plans to continue allowing trapping for research purposes this year too.
In an announcement made on Wednesday as part of its infringements notices and updates for June, Brussels said it had found Malta’s position “unsatisfactory”.
Bypassing the rules
Malta, the Commission said, had authorised the trapping of finches for research purposes and in so doing had bypassed a judgment of the Court of Justice.
By permitting trapping of finches in similar conditions as before this ruling, even if under a different regime, Malta was not complying with the decision of the court.
“Malta now has one month to remedy the situation, otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice. A shortened deadline aims to prevent serious and irreversible damage to the environment, in case the Republic of Malta intends to open yet another trapping season,” the announcement reads.
Times of Malta understands that the government hopes to engage in further dialogue with the EU over the matter.
A government source said that, in the lengthy correspondence sent to Brussels earlier this year, Malta defended its decision to open a trapping season despite the threat of possible infringement proceedings by the EU.
Malta told Brussels that, in its view, the ECJ judgment did not constitute an outright ban on live-capture of songbirds.
Data gap
The ECJ had declared one of the reasons it was against allowing finch trapping to carry on was because there was no local data being gathered to prove where the birds being trapped were migrating from.
The lack of scientific data made it impossible for the European authorities to assess the impact Maltese trapping was having on specific songbird populations.
According to the technical correspondence sent by Malta, EU rules on derogations (legal exemptions) allow for research to be carried out on the seven finch species traditionally trapped on the island.
Conservationists, on the other hand, have long complained about lack of human resources to adequately police the trapping season.
See writing on wall and act accordingly, Birdlife tells government
In a statement, Birdlife said the European Commission has once again stepped in to protect birds in Malta. This was because of “the farcical finch trapping derogation” under the pretence of a scientific study.
Birdlife said that an ORNIS Committee meeting planned for Wednesday that was set to discuss the next finch trapping season was cancelled on Tuesday.
“Once again BirdLife Malta has been proven to be on the right side of bird protection. This communication is also a stern warning to the Maltese Government that the European Union will not tolerate anymore the abuse of the European Birds Directive,” the organisation said.
CEO Mark Sultana added that unless the government stopped the finch trapping practice once and for all, it would leading Malta back to the European court “to defend the indefensible”.
This was apart from further discrediting the country’s international reputation on environmental matters, as well as wasting taxpayers’ money for a handful of votes when the government should be investing in transforming Malta into a green economy.
“We urge the Prime Minister to be courageous enough to see the writing on the wall, and act accordingly,” Sultana said.
Commission's aim is to destroy hunting, trapping - FKNK
In another statement, the hunters federation (FKNK) welcomed the government’s reaction to the opinion and expressed “disgust” at the European Commission, which, it said, was being "unreasonable and intransigent".
The commission, the FKNK said, wanted to remove Malta’s possibility to conduct research on songbirds, which itself had requested.
This was beyond any scientific or legal reason and clearly showed that the commission’s aim was not to find a satisfactory solution but to destroy hunting and trapping practices in Malta and Gozo, the federation said.