Malta, Brussels clear the air on environmental issues

The recent environmental infringements against Malta by the European Commission on Fort Cambridge as well as spring hunting dominated a meeting yesterday between European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas and Environment Minister George Pullicino.

Commission sources told The Times after the meeting that Mr Dimas praised the decision taken by the government to abruptly close last spring's hunting season following reports that a massacre on protected birds had occurred in the south of Malta.

Mr Dimas told Mr Pullicino the Commission fully supported the Maltese decision.

The sources also said that the commissioner again insisted with the Maltese authorities that the island should not allow spring hunting any longer, an issue on which Brussels has already started legal procedures against Malta as it maintains that this goes against its rules.

"Commissioner Dimas expressed his confidence that Malta will not open the hunting season again next year and urged the Maltese minister to make sure the problem is resolved without the need of going to court," a spokesman for the Commission said.

The recent infringement procedure opened against Malta on the Fort Cambridge development was also discussed at length.

According to sources, Mr Dimas and Mr Pullicino discussed the issue on whether such developments need an environmental impact assessment with the Maltese side giving details on how it looks at the issue.

"Following this meeting, the Commission is confident the two sides will be working together and that an EIA will be carried out for this high-rise building," the Commission spokesman said.

In order to better understand each other's way of doing things on the planning and development side, Mr Pullicino and Mr Dimas agreed to hold a technical seminar in Malta next September with the participation of officials from the Commission and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

The Commission last month decided to send a first warning letter to Malta over the need of an EIA for the Fort Cambridge development. Malta has until the end of this month to reply.

Speaking to The Times, Mr Pullicino described the meeting as a "routine one" in which the government had the opportunity to present its position on different issues.

"We spoke about infringements and the way we are looking at the issues being raised by the Commission. The meeting was a very positive one and helped each side to understand better the pending issues," he said.

Mr Pullicino said Commissioner Dimas was very surprised to learn that Malta will this year be investing Lm43 million to upgrade its environmental infrastructure. He said that in 1990 the investment stood at just Lm3 million.

"Although we still have a long way to go, this investment clearly shows our commitment towards the environment," Mr Pullicino said.