The government should stop its delaying tactics and realise it is heading for a hefty fine for breaching the Birds Directive, a top BirdLife International official has warned.

A decision by Malta to persist with spring hunting this year will cause an international uproar, Konstantin Kreiser, BirdLife's EU policy manager cautioned.

"Rarely has a case been so clear-cut. Malta is likely to be fined millions in what is sure to be an embarrassing case," Mr Kreiser told The Times in an interview.

The smallest EU country is evidently causing the biggest hunting headaches in Brussels - at least as evidenced by the thick Malta file that Mr Kreiser consults during this interview.

Complaints come in practically on a daily basis from foreigners urging BirdLife to take strong action against Malta, while MEPs are determined to put an end to spring hunting. Sitting at BirdLife's office in the centre of Brussels, Mr Kreiser is exasperated.

He believes Malta's unwillingness to play by the rules of the game will lead to serious financial repercussions and put a serious blotch on the island's reputation.

Last June, Brussels started legal action against Malta on the issue of spring hunting, though it could take several months, possibly a few years, until the case is decided by the European Court.

If the accused member state is found to be at fault by the court, it has to put an end to the respective infringement immediately, and normally is ordered to pay the costs of the procedure.

If the Commission finds that the member state still does not comply with the judgment and the infringement persists, it may start a second procedure, which can see the country ending up in court again.

During this procedure the court can impose a fine at the request of the Commission.

The BirdLife official said there were strong indications that the government was putting delaying tactics into force for its own political reasons. Such tactics were not "clever" since the court ruling might come earlier than expected, he warned.

He said BirdLife was urging the European Commission to proceed as fast as possible in its infringement proceedings against Malta, especially since it considers the case as straightforward.

Malta is the only country which permits spring hunting for two bird species, as the government applies a derogation as permitted under Article 9 of the Birds Directive. Every year, however, Malta has to justify the derogation, which is permitted only if it is proven that there is no other alternative.

"The derogation will only be applicable if Malta proves that there is no other solution to spring hunting - and the EU is clearly providing autumn as an alternative," Mr Kreiser explained.

Even if Malta is granted such an exception, Article 9 states that hunting in spring will have to be "strictly supervised" and in "small numbers."

According to BirdLife, the lowest estimate of birds shot in Malta does not meet the threshold of small numbers, and this has been told to the Commission.

Malta has also failed to send the derogation report of 2005 where it had to show it was meeting the conditions of Article 9.

The Federation for Hunting and Conservation is expecting the government to announce this year's open seasons by tomorrow, amid threats of streets protests.

The government subsequently replied that the hunting and trapping seasons would be discussed at the Ornis committee, which the hunters have shunned.

But Mr Kreiser said that while lobbies are insisting that the authorities should not comply with the Birds Directive, governments were duty bound to comply with the laws.

He criticised the level of enforcement in Malta. Having visited a number of times, he said there was enough proof to show that Maltese hunters are shooting down several threatened species.

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