European Commissioner designate for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, has been requested by BirdLife to give clear and unequivocal answers to questions about the Birds Directive and how he would deal with how it was applied in Malta and elsewhere. 

In an open letter, ahead of Mr Vella’s grilling on Monday, Birdlife referred to comments by departing European Commissioner Janez Potocnik at a conference earlier this week in which he challenged Mr Vella to deal with the problems in Malta caused by a “small minority,” and that hunting and illegal killing and trapping were undeniable problems in “several regions in Europe”.

Birdlife Malta executive director Steve Micklewright said:

“The out-going commissioner made veiled comments about the situation in Malta in his speech and it is very clear that expectations are very high for Karmenu Vella to deal with Malta and other countries that abuse the Birds Directive to allow unsustainable hunting and trapping.”

In its open letter, Birdlife called on Mr Vella to clearly state his position on a number of key issues that affected Malta in particular. 

The open letter, which can be read in the pdf link below, has been circulated to all MEPs who will Mr Vella about environmental issues.