European Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella said yesterday Malta could face consequences if it defied EU law and opened another trapping season this year.

Speaking to Times of Malta following a meeting with members of the EU and Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Committee in Valletta, Mr Vella said the Commission had already warned Malta twice on the issue.

The next step would be court action, he added.

“Malta should stop the trapping of finches once and for all. We have issued warnings. If this continues we will have no other alternative but to take Malta to the European Court of Justice,” Mr Vella warned.

The trapping of finches is outlawed in the EU and Malta stopped the practice after a five-year transition period ended in 2009. However, an autumn trapping season kept being opened for two species of birds.

Following Labour’s return to power in 2013, the government bowed to pressure and last year reopened a full-blown trapping season that included finches.

Brussels soon came down on the Maltese government, issuing a first warning last year and stepping up the legal process in May. It warned that the opening of a new finch trapping season this year would land Malta in hot water. Ironically, on the same day the Commission issued its second warning, the Ornis Committee recommended a new season. So far, the government has not announced whether it will accept the consultative committee’s recommendation.

Although under the Birds Directive member states can derogate to allow exceptions, the Commission argues that, in the case of bird trapping, there are no scientific grounds for Malta to justify the trapping of finches.

In May, when the Commission issued its most recent warning, Malta was given two months to come in line with EU law.