The president of the Federation of Hunters (FKNK) said today that the European Court judgement on spring hunting did not exclude the possibility of Malta applying for a derogation to allow spring hunting in the future.

Lino Farrugia was commenting in reaction to a decision by the European Court which this morning found that Malta broke EU law when it had allowed spring hunting.

"The decision does not mean that spring hunting has been banned for ever. The court could not remove Malta's right to apply for a derogation in future, and in view of new data which we already have, and with political will, we can get a derogation, although it will be more difficult," Mr Farrugia said.

He explained that the court had ruled against Malta's decision to allow spring hunting between 2004-2007 because the government had incorrectly applied the derogation.

However, the court decision was still "somewhat below the belt" because there had been a common position paper between the then 25 EU member and applicant states and the EU Commission where Malta had declared that it would be applying the derogation to allow spring hunting. Yet as soon as Malta joined the EU, infringement proceedings were launched.