A Labour Party in government could not promise spring hunting "just like that" because it would have to take into account the decision of the European Court of Justice and abide by it, MEP Joe Muscat told hunters and trappers yesterday.

He was "painting a clear picture" of the situation in what he described as a strictly informative and non-political meeting at the MLP club in Dingli, warning the hunters and trappers present that he would not necessarily be telling them what they wanted to hear, but merely the facts.

"If the case goes to the European Court, there is little any government can do. There is only one submission to be made, and that is at the beginning of the process. It is likely to have already been made by the government by the time Labour comes into power," Mr Muscat said, effectively letting the MLP off the hook and giving up responsibility on the issue of spring hunting.

But his statement was not enough for the hunters who, like environmental NGOs last week, wanted to know what stand Labour would adopt in government and whether it would defend their cause.

Mr Muscat said the Labour Party had many defects, but if it gave its word in writing, it would keep it! "When we are sure of what we have to say, we will speak, and only then, because we do not want to take anyone for a ride," he said, adding that it needed to know the European Court's legal case against Malta.

Mr Muscat said the European Court's case should be made available in black and white for everyone's benefit, and the government should also publish its position to make its arguments known.

He stressed that the government had not negotiated any derogation on spring hunting with the EU - and there were no two ways about that! It had taken the hunters for a ride.

And no sector could be renegotiated; it was closed the minute Malta joined the EU. Moreover, it would be impossible to negotiate a derogation that did not exist.

Asked whether the situation regarding the derogation could be changed if the government changed, Mr Muscat said any government would have to accept the decision of the European Court and no one had ever challenged it.

Once the government made its first and final submission to the European Court and lost the case, there would be no turning back, he said. Whether the MLP in power could apply a derogation after the court case depended on the European Commission's case and the arguments the government put forward.

Mr Muscat explained that hunting and trapping were regulated by the Birds Directive, and that article 9 allowed for the application of a derogation under three circumstances, but it did not mean the country would necessarily be granted it.

The secretary-general of the Federazzjoni Kaccaturi Nassaba Konservazzjonisti, Lino Farrugia maintained, however, that no government was ever prevented from applying a derogation, but had to justify it.

The problem was that the Maltese government had failed to do so (the justification in Malta's case had to be made under the circumstances that there was no viable alternative to spring hunting), he said.

"Every government, member of the EU, always had the right to apply a derogation," he said, adding that talks would continue with the MLP to see what it could offer hunters and trappers.

Mr Muscat said that if hunters and environmentalists pulled together, a solution would be found.

He added that nothing had been heard of the study the government had commissioned to draw conclusions on the issue, but Mr Farrugia said it was under way and being carried out seriously to show why September was not a viable alternative to spring hunting.

In a political aside, Mr Muscat said he firmly believed that the abrupt close of the spring hunting season 10 days before planned had nothing to do with the illegal killing of protected birds. It was a "premeditated, electoral move on the part of the government, who has realised it has lost the votes of the hunters, and is trying to 'trap' the votes of the environmentalists instead".

Dropping the golf course proposal to turn Ix-Xaghra l-Hamra into a nature park was another step in the direction of increasing its environmental credentials, he maintained.

Spring hunting is not allowed within the EU to protect wild birds before they reproduce in their breeding grounds in Europe. In spite of the ongoing infringement procedure, opened by the European Commission, the government opened another spring hunting season in 2007.

The government has vowed to defend its position at the European Court of Justice.

BirdLife Malta has always maintained that EU law is clear in that there could be no spring hunting.