At this stage the European Court will only decide on interpretation, ministry says

If the European Court of Justice is asked to look into the issue of spring hunting in Malta, there will only be a decision on the interpretation of the Birds Directive and no fines would be imposed at this stage, the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment said yesterday.

The ministry was reacting to yesterday's front page article in which a European Commission source was quoted as saying that this was Malta's last chance to come in line with EU law on spring hunting "if it wants to avoid the issue to be decided by the courts, which might impose a hefty fine on the island".

The ministry said that if the case does go to court, the European Court of Justice will, in this case, only decide on the interpretation of the Birds Directive. "It is incorrect to state that the ECJ will impose fines at this stage. If the ECJ decides in favour of Malta's interpretation, then the case stops there.

"If, on the other hand, the ECJ decides in favour of the Commission's interpretation, Malta will be called upon to comply with this decision. If Malta fails to comply with this decision, the Commission will institute a case for Malta's non-compliance with the ECJ's decision. Fines are only imposed at the conclusion of this second process. The government has already made it clear that it will abide by the decision taken by the ECJ," the ministry said.

Asked yesterday to comment on the European Commission's decision while attending the EU summit in Lisbon, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi preferred not to comment on the matter while at the summit.