Fines may be imposed on Malta if a three-week hunting season were to be opened, the European Commission has warned the government.
The Commission has made it clear it does not agree with a future three-week season, which is being sought by the government and the hunting lobby, as it does not consider it to be in line with last year's European Court judgement.
A senior Commission official in Brussels said yesterday the government had been notified of its position, although the Commission was not objecting to the opening of a six-day season "as long as all the conditions are respected".
Contacted by The Times, the government last night would not confirm nor deny that it had received the Commission's warning.
Before announcing the opening of this year's hunting season, the government had admitted it had failed to reach agreement with the Commission on the recommendation of the Ornis committee to allow a 20-day hunting season. Despite various meetings in Brussels over the past months, the Commission continued to resist this proposal.
Its reservations, the official said, were sustained when its experts analysed a legal notice published by the government at the beginning of the month preparing the ground to implement Ornis' original recommendation.
The initial analysis by the Commission (of legal notice 221 of 2010) revealed concerns regarding its compliance with the provisions of the ECJ judgment.
Therefore, following in-depth evaluation, the possibility of launching legal action under Article 260 of the Treaty could not be excluded, the official said.
"In other words, if Malta allowed the hunting season the government was seeking, the island would have ended up in front of the ECJ again and this time hefty fines would have possibly been imposed," he added.
On the other hand, although the Commission has already said the second option chosen by the government - to allow a six-day season opening on Saturday - was acceptable "in principle", this all depended on the enforcement of all its provisions.
In this context, he said the EU executive had already requested that the government send - not later than four weeks after the closure of the 2010 season - a detailed report on the outcome, notably on the enforcement and controls put in practice and their results.
"The Commission has already said that opening the 2010 spring hunting season appears to comply with the requirements of the ECJ judgment," the official said.
"However, it is essential to strictly control spring hunting and effectively enforce all the conditions and restrictions set out in the legislation, in particular with regard to the duration of the hunting season, number of hunting licences and the number of birds to be hunted," the official stressed.
The government's decision to open a restricted six-day hunting season has been criticised by both the pro-hunting and anti-hunting lobbies, with the former accusing the government it is too short and the latter insisting it goes against EU laws.
The hunters' federation, which earlier this week demanded the immediate opening of the spring season, has said it is seeking legal advice about the government's "discriminatory" decision, as only 2,500 hunting licences are on offer. It has not ruled out holding street protests.
The Labour Party has held talks with the federation, FKNK, and declared it agreed with opening a 20-day hunting season.
This year's season runs between Saturday and April 30 and is the first to be held in the past three years, as hunting was not allowed in 2008 and 2009 due to the pending court case instituted by the Commission. However, a hunters' boycott means only a handful have applied for the special licence.
According to the EU Birds Directive, hunting is not permitted during spring. However, last year the ECJ ruled autumn hunting was not a suitable alternative to spring hunting, leaving the door ajar for a limited season.