BirdLife Malta have rebutted the FKNK’s claim yesterday that it was ‘normal procedure’ that Malta would have until November 2011 to submit its spring hunting derogation report and that the Commission would take action only after that.
Under Article 260 of the Lisbon Treaty, since Malta’s past derogations on spring hunting were found to be unlawful then the country’s case remains open and the European Commission can request information on the derogation from Malta as it deems fit. The Commission can also take the country back to the European Court of Justice within a short period of time.
Even without the report, the Commission, as the guardian of the law, can decide to take action against a member state and bring the matter to the attention of the European Court.
In fact during the ECJ spring hunting case Malta had claimed that the Commission’s action against spring hunting in 2007 must have been considered inadmissible because Malta had not yet sent the report for that year to the EC. The Court dismissed the government’s argument and stated that such a stand would jeopardize the Commission’s role as the guardian of European law. The Court judgment states the Commission “alone is empowered to decide whether it is appropriate to bring such proceedings and to determine the grounds on which they should be initiated.”
The FKNK has once again misled its members and the public. BirdLife reminded the government that the FKNK had claimed that Malta’s derogations between 2004 and 2007 were in line with the Birds Directive but after being found guilty at the ECJ, the FKNK started talking about a ‘very limited and strictly supervised’ season.
BirdLife said that while the hunting lobby is now demanding a three-week season in April based on the Ornis Committee recommendations, FKNK representatives had voted against the proposed three week duration and bag limits at the meeting because they had demanded a longer season and a larger number of birds to be killed.
The only members of the Ornis Committee who voted in favour of the duration and the bag limits that were finally recommended – based on MEPA’s proposal – were the government-appointed chairman, MEPA’s representative and a former assistant to the Resources Minister. The rest either abstained or voted against.
BirdLife Malta had warned that the Ornis recommendation had no legal and scientific justification and therefore it would be in breach of the Birds Directive. As a result the country would be taken to the European Court of Justice where it risked facing fines. The government finally admitted that the country would be taken to ECJ if it followed FKNK’s demands or Ornis proposal.
BirdLife Malta still insisted that the government’s decision to open a spring hunting, regardless of the limitations proposed, is in breach of the Birds Directive because it could not meet all the conditions under the law.
“It is irresponsible of the government to continue raising hopes among the hunting community, even suggesting a three-week period next year, when it is clear that spring hunting in Malta and Gozo is a thing of the past. Instead, the government should focus on strong law enforcement to stop the continued killing of migrating birds,” said Tolga Temuge, BirdLife Malta Executive Director.