EU 'hunting mission' primes its guns

A delegation from the European Parliament's Petitions Committee yesterday started a three-day visit here during which it will take stock of the hunting situation.

Led by committee chairman Marcin Libicki, the delegation yesterday met with senior officials from the Environment Ministry, MPs, the Ombudsman and NGO representatives.

It also had a meeting with the Federation For Hunting and Conservation led by Lino Farrugia and visited various areas in the countryside popular with hunters.

The visit was triggered by a petition signed by almost 200,000 people from across Europe who called on the EU to stop spring hunting in Malta. The committee is to assess how well the EU Birds Directive is being applied to Malta in relation to migratory species.

Speaking to The Times yesterday after a meeting with the Ombudsman, Mr Libicki described the visit as one of the committee's "fact-finding missions", adding that it was still too early to form an opinion.

The Birds Directive is meant to protect, manage and monitor wild birds, their nests, eggs and habitats in the EU. It is also intended to protect birds from being captured or killed, among other issues.

Malta had negotiated an exemption from the Birds Directive for the hunting of quail and turtledove in spring until 2008. But the government must now back its case for the derogation to the European Commission.