Gonzi insists on murdering birds in spring
Submitted by ANIMAL RIGHTS MALTA’S BLOG
Government sticks to its guns on spring bird-murder
The Malta Independent on Sunday’s David Lindsay reports:
“The government has stood its ground on the issue of spring hunting and appears to have every intention of opening the season this year, flying in the face of the now very real threat of legal action by the European Commission. The EC had given Malta a final warning in October to cease the practice of spring hunting this year, unless it could provide scientific evidence justifying the practice…
BirdLife Malta confirmed yesterday that Malta’s awaited reply to the final warning was sent to Brussels this week. The EC is said to have frowned upon Malta’s arguments in favour of the practice once again, and will be taking the government before the European Courts of Justice.
Malta’s latest manoeuvre could be perceived as a delaying tactic aimed at postponing the issue until after the forthcoming general election, with legal proceedings potentially being a drawn-out affair unless the process is otherwise fast-tracked. The EU courts could, however, resort to interim measures and order the closing of spring hunting until the case is concluded and the verdict delivered.
As pointed out by BirdLife International’s EU Policy Manager Konstantin Kreiser, ‘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’.
If Malta loses the case, it could be slapped with potentially heavy punitive fines, possibly for every day in which Malta infringed the EU’s Bird Directive. According to the Commission, Malta has contravened the directive since it joined the EU – for four years running, with this year being the fifth, if the season is indeed opened.
BirdLife Malta (BLM) called on the government on Friday to immediately withdraw its intention to allow spring hunting this year. In a letter sent to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, BirdLife Malta advised, ‘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 15 March 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’.
BLM president Joseph Mangion also accused the government of pandering to the hunters lobby in the interest of its political party and against the interest of the majority of the Maltese people. ‘We have every reason to be furious with the government and also with certain politicians from both 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’, he commented. ‘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?’.
October’s final written warning follows Malta’s first written warning on spring hunting in July 2006, which had observed, ‘Currently, laws in Malta allow the hunting of the birds during spring, a key period of migration and breeding. In taking this step, the Commission is asking Malta to bring its rules on hunting in line with the EU’s Wild Birds Directive. The hunting of these migratory birds (turtle-dove and quail) takes place during their return from Africa to breeding grounds in Europe, before they have had a chance to reproduce. The impact on bird numbers is therefore more significant than it would be in autumn or winter, after the breeding season. The Commission believes that alternative solutions to spring hunting exist, in this case the possibility to hunt the two species in the autumn’.
Hunting in the EU is regulated in the EU by the 1979 Wild Birds Directive, which holds a general prohibition on the killing of wild birds but allows the hunting of certain species ‘provided this does not happen during breeding or migration’.”
Spring hunting ban possible before EU court ruling
In the meantime, Herman Grech from The Sunday Times reports:
“Malta could be forced to stop spring hunting before the European Court of Justice reaches its verdict, Birdlife has warned.
The Commission is expected to take Malta to the European Court within the next few weeks and if the Government decides to open another spring hunting season, the Court may decide on interim measures and stop the controversial practice until a verdict is reached.
With the clock ticking to the general election and as hunters prepare their shotguns for another season, Birdlife Malta urged the Government in a letter sent to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi on Friday to immediately retract from its intention to open another spring hunting season.
The Government last week replied to the Commission’s final written warning on spring hunting sent to Malta last October.
The response was sent after a delay of almost a month and, according to a report in The Times last week, Commission sources said it is likely that the issue will now have to be decided by the European Court - indicating that the Government is committed to opening another spring hunting season in 2008 in direct violation of EU law.
But Birdlife has warned that Malta’s delaying tactics could backfire. Birdlife International’s EU policy manager Konstantin Kreiser said: ‘By declaring another spring hunting season for 2008, Malta 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.
In a March 2007 ruling, the Commission made use of special procedures to ask the court to make an urgent order requiring Poland to suspend works immediately, until the judgment was handed down. The Maltese Government should learn this lesson before it is too late, Mr Kreiser said.
Birdlife Malta told Dr Gonzi that Malta’s insistence to permit spring hunting and trapping had already become a European-wide embarrassment for the island. The European Parliament had issued a resolution in March last year against the practice, in a rare move to openly urge a member state to comply with EU law.
The conservation organisation also reminded the Prime Minister that there is no justification to permit another spring hunting season in Malta and that he had no mandate from the overwhelming majority of the Maltese who were against spring hunting.
‘In spite of this stark reality our Government still attempts to appease the hunters’ lobby’, Birdlife Malta president Joseph Mangion said.
‘It is very clear that the 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’.
Mr Mangion said: ‘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 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?’”
If you are a Maltese voter and don’t vote for AD, you are an accomplice to the murder of birds in spring
At this point, the Green party Alternattiva Demokratika’s message of yesterday in The Times bears repeating:
“The alliance between the hunters and the PN is now being openly declared. Mr Mifsud Bonnici stresses, in fact, that ‘Dr Busuttil shows a sense of fairness and consistency by additionally stating that the 2008 spring season should be opened in line with his party’s electoral promises’.
The picture is now clear: both the MLP and the PN are in favour of hunting in spring. Alternattiva Demokratika, instead, will work to ensure the prohibition of all forms of spring hunting. It is now up to the Maltese voters to have their say on the issue”.
Of course, it must be said that EU law on hunting is speciesist and discriminatory, since it does not accord equal protection to any and all birds and restricts protection to some birds only during certain periods of the year (like spring). That said, the Maltese government deserves total condemnation for its insistence in retaining spring hunting, and by so doing, not even allowing minimal protection to birds at least during their breeding season. It certainly looks like this government, despite its eagerness to join the EU, is still stuck with an archaic mentality that thinks that anyone in Europe can do what they want as long as what they do is politically expedient (to win votes from the bird-murderers).
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