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European Court of Justice imposes interim measure on Malta banning spring hunting for 2008
Since Malta joined the EU in 2004, the Maltese government has allowed spring hunting every year, in direct contravention of the European Union Birds Directive. Malta is the only country in the EU that still permits spring hunting and trapping.
In July 2005, BirdLife Malta and BirdLife International submitted a complaint to the European Commission regarding Malta’s transposition and implementation of the Birds Directive and this led the European Commission to open an infringement procedure against Malta for allowing the hunting of Turtle Dove and Quail in spring.
In October 2007, the Commission sent Malta its final written warning, ‘a reasoned opinion’, calling on the Maltese government to address this anomaly. BirdLife Malta also sent an open letter to both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition asking them to clarify their party’s official position on spring hunting once and for all. To date, no reply has been forthcoming from either side.
The Maltese government replied to the Commission in January, one month after the deadline. However, the reply was not deemed satisfactory by the Commission who therefore, decided to take Malta before the European Court of Justice on January 31, 2008. BirdLife International and BirdLife Malta welcomed the decision.
On April 24, 2008 the European Court of Justice issued interim measures ordering Malta not to open the 2008 spring hunting season for Turtle Dove and Quail. This Order implies that the Court sees urgent need to prevent irreversible damage to these migratory bird species, while a final ruling on this case is pending and not expected before 2009.
Background
Prior to the spring season in 2007, the government called on the Maltese Ornis Committee to take the heat for yet another breach of EU law, knowing that the decision is a controversial one. The sudden resignation of the Committee’s Chairman was followed by the government’s appointment of Louis Cilia whose first action was to send the agenda for a meeting in February 2007 where the only item up for discussion was the “Decision on the conditions and the periods under which the derogation for hunting and trapping of Turtle dove and Quail during the spring period is to be recommended to the Minister”. In answer to objections, Mr. Cilia stated that the government had already taken the decision to allow spring hunting and the Ornis Committee’s job was only to forward recommendations on dates and conditions.
The Ornis Committee was set up as an independent body to advise government on best practice. If a body is truly independent, science and law ought to be its main reference. In breach of its own legislation and the EU Birds Directive the Maltese government overrode this independent body and opened another season for spring hunting and trapping in 2007.
No Justification
To date the Maltese government has failed to justify its decision to open the spring hunting season since it joined the EU. This is because the government has absolutely no scientific basis on which to apply a derogation on spring hunting. BirdLife believes that a situation where the Maltese government is not only defying EU law but also breaking its own rules is likely to speed up the infringement procedure. The government’s delaying tactics need to be given serious consideration in view of the lack of capacity in the Administrative Law Enforcement (ALE) unit to enforce the law on illegal hunting and trapping practices.
Law Enforcement
Presently, the Administrative Law Enforcement (ALE) unit is equipped with approximately 22 officers in Malta and Gozo. The figures for licensed hunters and trappers for 2007 indicate that there are 11,929 licensed hunters and 4,616 licensed trappers. This means that there is only one officer for approximately 540 licensed hunters. In actual fact, the number of the ALE officers is reduced in spring, summer and early autumn when some of these officers are given other duties related to tourism, illegal immigration, and so forth. Therefore, the derogation that the Maltese government is applying cannot be strictly supervised. This is a matter of serious concern since the spring hunting season has been used by most hunters as a blanket to kill protected species.
A Political Decision
In the absence of any scientific data to justify their decision, Maltese officials, including the Prime Minister Dr. Lawrence Gonzi, Minister for Rural Affairs and the Environment, George Pullicino, and MEP Simon Busuttil, among others, made it clear that their decision was based on the political objectives of their party.
The Maltese authorities repeatedly refer to the final EU negotiating document dated September 22, 2002 where the EU noted Malta’s insistence that they will allow the hunting of two species in spring. They give the impression that they had negotiated a derogation with the EU to allow the spring hunting and trapping of Turtle Doves and Quails. However, the only agreement on hunting and trapping made during the accession negotiations was the trapping of seven finch species until the end of 2008. This was confirmed by the EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas.
There is absolutely no justification for Malta to continue to defy the EU law. We all have to take action to stop the killing of wild birds before their breeding season. We have no choice if we are to claim back what is being taken away from us, not only in terms of wildlife but also in terms of the hunters’ occupation of our countryside.
Spring Watch Malta 2008
In spring 2008, BirdLife Malta will be organising Spring Watch Malta 2008 in order to assess the situation of illegal spring hunting on the ground. For more information on this, please click here.