Malta will continue to study ways how trapping of song birds could be reintroduced, but the derogation which had been banned by the European Court would not be reintroduced, the parliamentary secretary responsible for animal welfare, Clint Camilleri, said on Tuesday.
“We will act responsibly, and I do not wish to raise anybody’s hopes” Mr Camilleri said in an adjournment speech in parliament.
He said that before Malta joined the EU, the people were told by then Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami and by Simon Busuttil that Malta had held negotiations to safeguard both hunting and trapping.
But in truth, Malta had actually agreed to stop trapping as from 2008. And that was what had happened.
The Birds Directive, he said, banned trapping but allowed derogations where justified.
In 2014 the Labour government, therefore, applied derogations for the trapping of seven species (of song birds) in a sustainable manner. The European Commission disagreed and took Malta to court.
Malta defended its argument but unfortunately, the European Court thought otherwise and banned trapping as applied in the derogation, Mr Camilleri said.
The government then had to decide whether to permanently ban trapping, because of the bad conditions negotiated by the PN government, or seek an alternative.
Following a detailed study of the court sentence, talks were held with the European Commission and it was finally agreed that a new derogation could be applied for the trapping of song thrush and golden plover.
This was the first time since Malta joined the EU that the European Commission had accepted, with amendments, the parameters through which a derogation could be applied for trapping in Malta. It was a hugely important step, Mr Camilleri said.
Because of Malta’s strong arguments and action taken at the EU’s requests, the threat of court action was lifted.
With regard to the trapping of the seven species (of song birds) Mr Camilleri said the Maltese government would continue to study the European Court’s judgement in detail, consider legal advice and hold talks on alternatives.
READ: Trapping to proceed despite EU threat
Among areas of the judgement which the government was studying were the references to enforcement, bird recovery data to justify a derogation and trapping methods which, the court had held, were not selective and other birds could thus also be caught.
Mr Camilleri said Malta expected treatment that was fair and equal to that in other countries.
It was unfair that the European Commission enforced measures on one country while other countries were allowed to follow their practices.
Malta would be responsible in its actions, and while options would be considered, he did not want to raise false hopes, as the PN government had done before Malta joined the EU, Mr Camilleri said.