Decision shortly

The Prime Minister will shortly be announcing his decision on whether or not to allow spring hunting this year.

The opening day for the season suggested by the Ornis Committee, the consultative body on hunting matters, is this Saturday but Lawrence Gonzi has not yet decided whether to accept its recommendations.

"A decision will be announced in the coming days," a spokesman said when asked whether the spring hunting season will be opened between April 10 and 30 as suggested by Ornis.

A European Commission spokesman said last week consultative discussions were held between the government and Brussels on the matter but the decision to open the hunting season would have to be taken "solely by the Maltese authorities".

Dr Gonzi has gone on record saying that the government was seeking an agreement with the Commission on the conditions to regulate the limited spring hunting season in order to avoid future complications after the country was dragged to the European Court of Justice on the matter.

Spring hunting is not possible under the Birds Directive and if the season is opened the government would have to justify it.

The ECJ had ruled against Malta in a case over spring hunting brought by Brussels but conceded that the autumn season, in principle, did not really offer an alternative to spring. The government has interpreted this as an opportunity to explore "very limited hunting, under strict controls".

Commission sources said that "if Malta decides to apply the derogation it will have until November 2011 to justify it through a detailed report".

Only then would the Commission be prepared to take a position: "Our role would be to monitor what really happens on the ground and draw our own conclusions."

Ornis has suggested that hunting should be allowed this spring from April 10 to 30 on condition that only 22,298 turtle doves and 10,837 quails are shot.

Should the government face a second round of court proceedings, Malta might end up having to pay fines.