Updated | Hunters representatives in closed meetings with Gonzi at Castille

Updated:

Hunting secretary Lino Farrugia and Joe Perici Calascione have just finished meeting up with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi at the Auberge de Castille. The two sides discussed the latest legal notice on hunting which allows for 18 days of hunting in Spring. 

The Prime Minister discussed with Farrugia the implications of not respecting the quota of 2,500 and 9,000 quails and turtle doves. Farrugia thanked the Prime Minister for his time and promised that the federation would play its part. The cordial meeting contrasted with Farrugia's previous string words for Gonzi, who had been accused of deceiving the hunting community in the 2003 election. 

Farrugia had stood in the European elections as a hunting candidate but failed miserably in the elections.

The hunting federation, which has argued that most of its members are law abiding citizens, denies that most of its members will be involved in illegal hunting. 

But yesterday and today Birdlife Malta recorded country wide abuses and illegal hunting. Birdlife have accused the government. Hunters are expected to use the 18-day-period to hunt indiscriminately for protected birds.

Updated with OPM's response to Alternattiva Demokratika and BirdLife Malta

The European Commission has said there is no ‘agreement’ as claimed by the Prime Minster in parliament over the bag limits for the two-week spring hunting season.

A spokesperson for the EC’s environment commission told Alternattiva Demokratika and BirdLife Malta, which revealed the details of the communication today, that although the EC had welcomed the new legal notice on bag limits, this did not mean the Commission has to reach an agreement or reached a deal with the government over the application of the derogation from the spring hunting ban.

The EU bans spring hunting but member states can derogate from this ban if they satisfy criteria under Article 9 of the Birds Directive.

This week the prime minister announced it had brokered a deal with the EC by allowing a limited catch in spring according to how many birds are caught in the preceding autumn.

In their first reaction to the news, BirdLife instantly claimed the government was misinforming the public when it said it had reached an agreement with the EC. “The Commission does not make agreements with member states on derogations... it is Malta’s responsibility to ensure derogations are applied according to EU law.”

The EC spokesperson however told AD that the Commission discussions were intended at resolving shortcomings it had identified in Maltese law which were not in line with the judgement of the European Court of Justice.

“It is simply a recognition, at this stage, of the important legislative changes which were adopted to ensure that Malta's Framework Regulations may comply with the Courts judgment and the strict conditions laid down in the Birds Directive,” Joe Hennon, spokesperson for environment commissioner Janez Potocnik, said.

He added that the Commission’s positive opinion on the framework law “cannot be taken as a ‘carte blanche’ to open spring hunting derogations in Malta every year on an indefinite basis. It will still remain for Malta, before opening any particular spring hunting derogation, to determine whether all the conditions, laid down in Article 9.1. c of the Birds Directive, for opening a season are met.”

Hennon said it was Malta’s responsibility to take the all the necessary measures to ensure compliance with EU legislation and make sure that any particular spring hunting derogation will be applied in full compliance with the strict criteria laid down in the Birds Directive.

Carmel Cacopardo, AD spokesperson for sustainable development, said the EC’s statement meant the prime minister’s claims in parliament had been misleading and intended only to appease the hunting lobby on electoral promises that cannot be achieved.

“AD is disappointed with the Commission’s welcoming of government legislative action and is still of the opinion that spring hunting is incompatible with the Birds Directive,” Cacopardo said.

“However it is clear that the Commission’s insistence on the need to observe the strict criteria laid down in the Directive [vide article 9.1.c thereof] is indicative of the fact that rather than agreeing with the Maltese Government the EU has adopted a wait and see attitude. It is awaiting the development of events before deciding on what further action to take.”

The Office of the Prime Minister is sticking to its guns on having “reached an agreement” with the EC on the framework legislation that regulates the derogation from the Birds Directive’s ban on spring hunting.

“So real is this agreement that the EC spokesperson being quoted stated in his letter that the Commission has welcomed the legal amendments, referring to the amendments that provide a framework law on the derogation.”

The OPM is now saying that the prime minister never said there was an agreement on the derogation itself, but referred to the framework legislation which regulates the conditions for a spring hunting season, its bag limits, and when the derogation is applied.

Member States can freely derogate from the ban on spring hunting, but they will then have to prove to the Commission that their derogation was in line with the Birds Directive… otherwise they are taken to the European Court of Justice, as Malta has already.

The OPM said the prime minister stressed that a derogation could only be applied if the government could give the Commission evidence that it was being applied properly, and this required the cooperation of hunters.

The OPM is also insisting that the European Court’s judgement in 2009 had allowed spring hunting in Malta on condition that a framework legislation is agreed with the Commission, that regulates the way Malta derogates from the ban.

This has led to a system where the bag limits for quail and turtle dove during spring will be determined by the rate of birds hunted during autumn.

This year’s spring hunting season was announced on Friday, and will run from April 13 to 30, both days included. The season will have a bag limit of 11,500 birds – 9,000 turtle doves and 2,500 quails which were decided according to the declared catch in the autumn season. Hunters will have to send an SMS for every bird they catch.