OPM, 'no contradiction on EC spring hunting deal'

The Office of the Prime Minister has stated there is no contradiction with regards to Malta’s pre-accession agreement with the EU to derogate from the spring hunting ban, and the agreement reached with the Commission on a methodology for the application of a derogation is in itself exceptional.

“It is clear in the exchanges of positions between Malta and the European Union in the course of its accession negotiations prior to 2004 that the European Union had recognised that, due to the importance attached to certain specific situations pertaining to Malta, provision could be made for the possibility of derogation from certain conditions of the Directive,” the OPM said.

The government has also committed itself to underpin the method for implementation with a robust monitoring and enforcement system.

“BirdLife Malta need to recognise that whereas the Court, in its ruling on 10 September 2009, made it clear that while the way the derogation was applied in Malta was not in line with EU law, it accepted Malta’s arguments that, having regard to Malta’s specific circumstances, the autumn hunting season cannot be considered as a satisfactory solution,” the OPM said.

“This contrasted with the Finnish case where autumn hunting was declared to be an acceptable alternative to spring hunting and therefore spring hunting was not to be permitted. It is therefore clear that the Court left space for a proportionate use of the derogation for spring hunting in Malta, the parameters of which are the focus of the agreement reached between the Government and the Commission.”

The OPM said that BirdLife Malta’s refusal to attend the yesterday’s Ornis Committee meeting was regrettable and counter to a joint statement by BirdLife International and the Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation of the European Union, to respect the ruling of the Court.