The European Commission is to permit Malta to reopen a limited hunting season this spring, The Sunday Times has learnt.
Discussions are ongoing bet-ween the government and the European Commission to determine the length of this year's season and ensure it is in line with the EU's Birds Directive and the judgment delivered by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) last year - in a case instituted by the Commission against Malta over the issue.
"We can confirm that spring hunting is still possible in Malta following the court's judgment as long as it respects the ECJ's decision," a Commission official told The Sunday Times.
Last week, the hunters' federation (FKNK) appealed to the Prime Minister to decide in its favour on the opening of spring hunting. With March 25 approaching, the first day when spring hunting is technically possible, the hunters' federation is eager for answers following a hunting ban in the past two years.
When contacted, FKNK's secretary Lino Farrugia said the duration of the season was still being negotiated.
"We used to have 56 days before. We are definitely not expecting this and it will be much shorter than what it used to be before. The most important thing is that there will be a hunting season this year."
According to Commission officials, the ongoing negotiations between the government and Brussels are expected to be concluded soon and will ensure that whatever Malta decides will respect EU law.
"There is nothing cast in stone and this is quite a tricky issue for Malta. We have to agree on how long hunters should be permitted to hunt and how. If we feel Malta surpasses the limits imposed, we will take the country back to court. And this time there will be fines," the Commission official said.
"If Malta adopted a derogation which does not comply with the requirements of the directive and the ECJ ruling, the Commission would take the next appropriate legal step - that is starting procedures under Article 260 of the Lisbon Treaty."
Although last year many were expecting that the ECJ would ban spring hunting forever, the court's ruling actually kept the door ajar for hunters since the judgment stated that the autumn hunting season in Malta does not really offer an alternative to spring. At the same time, the court declared that by allowing a full-blown hunting season to take place after its accession to the EU in 2004 and the following seasons, Malta had breached the Birds Directive.
"Hunting for quails and turtle doves during the autumn hunting season cannot be regarded as constituting, in Malta, another satisfactory solution, so that the condition that there be no other satisfactory solution, laid down in Article 9(1) of the directive, should, in principle, be considered met," the court held.
However, the ECJ said that the conditions on which Malta authorised spring hunting of the two species did not fulfil the requirement for proportionality and other requirements laid down in Article 9(1) of the Directive.
"The prolongation of the hunting season for those two migratory species by authorisation of hunting for approximately two months in spring, during which the two hunted species are returning to their rearing grounds, which results in a mortality rate three times higher (around 15,000 birds killed) for quails and eight times higher (around 32,000 birds killed) for turtle doves than for the autumn hunting season, does not constitute an adequate solution that is strictly proportionate to the directive's objective of conservation of the species." In the meantime, eight environmental NGOs have joined forces to counter the hunting lobby's demands for the Prime Minister to reopen spring hunting.
In a statement yesterday, Birdlife Malta, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Friends of the Earth, the Gaia Foundation, the Ramblers Association, Malta Organic Agriculture Movement, Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar and Nature Trust Malta warned the Prime Minister not to drag Malta into another court case.
Should Malta be found guilty a second time, the country would face hefty fines at the taxpayers' expense, the statement said.
"In fact, no other member state has managed to meet all of these conditions under Article 9 and thus spring hunting is banned throughout the EU," the NGOs said.
The statement also reminded the government that opinion polls have repeatedly shown that the overwhelming majority of the population is against spring hunting.
The environmental groups also slammed Labour MEP John Attard Montalto, who said the government should open the spring hunting season and that he was elected thanks to the support of the hunters.
"His statement is an insult to Maltese citizens who voted for him but are not in favour of spring hunting," the NGOs said.
Alternattiva Demokratika also lent its support to the NGOs.