In a letter sent to Prime Minister Dr. Lawrence Gonzi on Friday BirdLife Malta has urged the government to immediately retract from its intention to allow another spring hunting season in 2008.

The government sent its reply this week to the Commission’s final written warning on spring hunting which was sent to Malta on the 17th of October 2007. The response was sent with almost a month’s delay and, according to media reports, Commission sources stated that “it is very likely that the issue will now have to be decided by the European Court of Justice” indicating that the government is committed to opening another spring hunting season in 2008 in direct violation of the European Union law.

In its letter to the Prime Minister, BirdLife Malta wrote: “Malta’s insistence on allowing spring hunting and trapping has already become a European wide embarrassment for our country. As an example, the European Parliament’s resolution of March 15 2007 is a very rare example of a Member State being openly urged by a great majority of MEPs from the whole political spectrum to comply with EU law.”

The conservation organisation also reminded the Prime Minister that there is absolutely no justification for allowing another spring hunting season in Malta in 2008 and that he had absolutely no mandate from the overwhelming majority of the Maltese public who are against spring hunting.

“In spite of this stark reality our government still attempts to appease the hunters’ lobby,” BirdLife Malta President Joseph Mangion charged. “It is very clear that government’s decision to allow another spring hunting season is not based on the best interest of the Maltese public or the government’s duties but based on the interest of their political party,” Mangion added.

Commenting on the recent development, BirdLife International’s EU Policy Manager Konstantin Kreiser said in Brussels that “Malta is not only facing a European Court Case. By declaring another spring hunting season for 2008, it is also likely to provoke Interim Measures of the Court - which would enter into force immediately. The Polish Via Baltica (Rospuda) case last year showed that the Court no longer accepts delaying tactics of Member States. The Maltese government should learn this lesson before it is too late.”

The Commission is expected to take Malta to the European Court of Justice within the next few weeks, the statement continued to say. If the government decides to fight the case in Court and open another spring hunting season, then the Court can decide on Interim Measures and stop spring hunting until a verdict has been reached.

“We have every reason to be furious with the government and also with certain politicians both from the Nationalist and Labour parties who persist in making promises to the hunting fraternity that go against the conservation laws with the hope of winning their votes. How can any government expect its citizens to abide by the law when it has no respect for EU law and the conservation of our natural heritage?” Mangion concluded.

The hunting of the migratory birds in question takes place during their return from Africa to breeding grounds in Europe before they are about to reproduce, thus compromising their future generations. The Birds Directive therefore forbids hunting of wild birds during spring and allows hunting in autumn or winter, after the breeding season. In its final warning letter the Commission had clearly stated that it has come to the conclusion that “alternative solutions to spring hunting exist, in this case the possibility to hunt the two species in the autumn.”