BirdLife Malta has announced that the European Commission has opened a second "complaint file" on Malta as it has serious doubts about Malta's enforcement of its own hunting laws in which the European Birds Directive is transposed.
The so-called "own initiative complaint file" was opened following the police memorandum sent to the Administrative Law Enforcement Unit officers in September. The memo ordered to refrain until further notice, from pressing charges against hunters caught breaking the law.
However, The Times of Malta reported that on contacting Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg on Friday night, he said that all those hunters who had been booked were in fact arraigned in these last days. No further details were given.
The European Commission, rarely acts against Member States on enforcement issues, but decided to investigate against Malta, because of the seriousness of the situation, and as clear evidence on paper is available in the form of the police memorandum. At this stage the Commission is not taking any legal action such as opening another infringement procedure but will be closely investigating the enforcement of the hunting law in Malta.
In June this year, the European Commission opened a legal infringement procedure against the Maltese government for allowing spring hunting without fulfilling the requirements of the Birds Directive for such derogation. If the Commission decides to open a new infringement procedure at the end of the investigation, this would be the second legal action against Malta related to bird hunting, which can ultimately lead to a ruling of the European Court of Justice.
"With the hope of gaining a few votes from the hunters, the Maltese government is defending the illegal and immoral actions of the few at the expense of the Maltese public that is overwhelmingly against hunting. Malta's image in Europe is being severely damaged thanks to our government. We expect Government to retract this blunder to avoid the possible consequences." said Joseph Mangion, the president of Birdlife Malta.
Last month Birdlife Malta filed a judicial protest against Environment Minister George Pullicino, Environment Director of MEPA and Commissioner of Police based on the police memo.
See also:
Birdlife files judicial protest against authorities
By MaltaMedia News - Oct 20, 2006, 18:54 CET
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