The European Commission is reported to be still not satisfied with the level of protection the government is proposing for Ta' Cenc.

The Commission's position on the issue was outlined during a seminar in Brussels last week ahead of a decision to be taken next year on the final list of protected areas under the EU's Natura 2000 environment network.

The seminar was attended by representatives of the EU Commission, the government and a number of non-governmental organisations.

Officially, the Commission was diplomatic in its statement stating only that Malta has still to account in the future for "certain well identified insufficiencies".

"The Commission welcomed the commitment of Malta to actively consider the site of Ta' Cenc, currently designated as a Special Protected Area (SPA), to be proposed as a Site of Community Interest (SAC)," it said.

However, sources close to the Commission said that Brussels is basically insisting that Malta changes the designation of Ta' Cenc.

"Ta' Cenc is still being considered by the government as an SPA and we are insisting that the site should be switched to the level of SAC, meaning the site is given further protection under the Habitats directive and not only under the Birds Directive.

"This will mean that future development is further restrained. We are insisting that the protection should not only be given to the cliff area but also to other parts of the plateau due to the importance of certain fauna and flora," the sources said.

Under EU rules, an SAC site has to be given much more protection than an SPA site.

The issue has already been raised before by the Commission. A letter sent by the Commission to the government last August asked that more should be done to protect the wild species of flora and fauna at Ta' Cenc and invited the government to grant protection to more areas of the Ta' Cenc plateau.

The issue is controversial due to the impact the EU directives can have on development plans submitted to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority by the owner of the area in Ta' Cenc to build 57 villas, 49 bungalows, a five-storey hotel, 66 "tourist units" and a golf course, with the possibility of further development.

A number of environmental non-governmental organisations are fighting this development, among them Din l-Art Helwa which has launched a petition aimed at collecting 20,000 signatures.

Otherwise, there seem to be no problems on the other sites being proposed by Malta to be included into the Natura 2000 network.

According to the Commission, Malta proposed a list of 27 sites, covering 48.5 square kilometres or about 13 per cent of the total land area. Apart from Ta' Cenc, all areas are expected to be included in the final list without any changes.