The government is evaluating the legal consequences of opening the autumn finch trapping season, after the European Commission announced last week that it had referred Malta to the EU’s Court of Justice.

A spokesman told the Times of Malta yesterday the government was examining the possibility of the Commission intervening to close the season should it be opened.

At the same time, there is a concern that a decision to suspend the season would appear to be a concession of the charges faced by the country.

The court action against Malta centres around the decision to allow the trapping of seven species of wild finches as from 2014.

Finch trapping was phased out in 2009 in line with Malta’s EU accession treaty but reintroduced last year.

The government responded to the Commission’s decision by pledging to “defend Malta’s right to apply finch live-capturing derogations in line with EU law”.

The capture and keeping of bird species like finches are generally prohibited in the EU. Under the Birds Directive, member states may derogate from the strict protection requirement if there is no other satisfactory solution and the derogation is used judiciously, with small numbers and strict supervision.

The Commission has previously ruled that these conditions are not met in Malta’s case, and sent a letter of formal notice last October.

Despite this warning, the 2014 finch trapping season was opened as planned, and the Commission sent a reasoned opinion last May, urging Malta to end the practice.

The government replied by contesting the Commission’s analysis, leading to the case being referred to the Court of Justice.

Last week, the government said it was confident that all the conditions required for a derogation were met, and that the application of the derogation did not negatively impact the population status of the seven finch species.

Italy, which has received similar warnings from the Commission over bird trapping in the past, banned the practice last July to avoid court proceedings.

Last month, The Sunday Times of Malta revealed that applications for licences for the autumn trapping season had been accepted by the government and already been delivered to trappers.

This newspaper also reported that the government had issued an internal call for civil servants to apply for overtime to map out some 8,500 registered trapping sites in time for the new season. The announcements were seen by critics as a reflection of the government’s intention to open the season despite the Commission’s warnings.