An Ornis committee recommendation asking the government to allow trapping beyond the end of this year has ruffled feathers in Brussels.

Ornis made the recommendation following a request by the hunting lobby.

European Commission officials said yesterday the recommendation cannot be accepted if Malta wants to avoid fresh legal proceedings.

"Malta's Accession Treaty is very clear. Trapping in Malta has to stop at the end of this year," an EU official said.

The island is already in hot water over hunting and is facing legal proceedings at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for continuing to permit spring hunting since its accession to the EU.

At the end of last week, Ornis - the official body tasked with making recommendations on the hunting and trapping seasons - proposed that the trapping of turtle dove and quail should be allowed between September 1 and January 31 and that of song thrush and golden plover between October 20 and January 10.

According to Malta's Accession Treaty, this is the last year when trapping will be permitted.

EU officials yesterday referred The Times to Malta's Act of Accession, specifically the Annex XI list for Malta, referred to in article 24 of the Act.

The treaty stipulates that a transition period was granted to allow trapping (not killing) of certain birds by clap-nets. The transition period runs until December 31, 2008.

Before that date, the transition period sets out a number of milestones including the introduction of a captive breeding programme for song birds (finches) and the identification and registration of all trapping sites.

Asked whether a derogation is possible to continue with the trapping, as the hunters are insisting, an EU official said the derogation is "only possible in theory because Malta cannot justify that it satisfies the strict conditions under which the derogation is granted".

According to the Birds Directive, member states can derogate from the directive's main provisions only under very restricted circumstances and conditions and only following an assessment by the Commission.

"It should be pointed out that, under such conditions, any trapping possible under a derogation would be in relation to a limited number of birds, which are intended to maintain the genetic viability of the captive breeding stock," the official said.

The government has not yet taken a stand on whether or not to accept the Ornis recommendation.