Maltese trappers will not be stopped from catching song birds this season as the European Commission is not yet in a position to ask the European Court to halt the practice, Times of Malta has learnt.
However, Brussels is laying the groundwork to put a stop to next year’s autumn season.
Malta re-opened the season for finch trapping yesterday after several years, invoking a derogation from the Birds Directive.
The Commission will first have to wait for the full legal process to take its course
Last week, the Commission started legal procedures against Malta, insisting that the island is in breach of EU laws, but the government went ahead and opened the season.
In 2008, when Malta had tried to challenge the decision not to allow spring hunting, the Commission managed to obtain an urgent court order, known as an interim measure, telling the island not to open the season until the issue was decided by the court.
However, this time round, the Commission is not yet in a position to adopt the same urgent procedure as it is still too early to apply for such an order.
A spokesman for the Commission yesterday told Times of Malta that interim measures can only be sought in infringement cases which have already been brought in front of the court.
Since this is not the case with regard to trapping, the Commission will first have to wait for the full legal process to take its course before applying for the order.
Commission sources said the EU executive had been caught on the wrong foot in this case.
“Since it has just issued the first of a three-pronged legal process, the Commission is not yet in a position to ask the court to act. However, it may be a different story next year,” the sources said. The Commission is taking this alleged breach of EU law very seriously so much so that it only gave Malta a month to reply to the accusation instead of the normal two months.
If Brussels continues to disagree with Malta after the reply is sent, it may decide to expedite the legal process by issuing a reasoned opinion and then taking the issue to court within six months.
Normally, it takes the European Court up to 18 months to decide on a case filed before it. But if it fast-tracks the process the Commission could be in a position to ask the court for an urgent interim measure before the opening of next year’s trapping season.
The onus on this expedited process will ironically fall on the new Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella.
Upon Labour’s election into power last year, the Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights, Roderick Galdes, said that the government had found a crack in EU laws to allow trapping.
The Commission immediately dismissed the claim.
In a statement yesterday, Alternattiva Demokratika criticised the decision to open the trapping season and said Malta’s reputation was once again being tarnished.