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”.

Read more in the Times of Malta

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