Submitted by ANIMAL RIGHTS MALTA’S BLOG

As reported in The Times, “the government said today that it felt that the European Court was the best place for a final decision on the spring hunting issue and while it would argue its case according to law, it would respect the court’s decision.

The government was reacting to the European Commission’s decision to refer the spring hunting issue to the court.

The commission had also called on the government to issue an interim measure for no spring hunting to be allowed until the issue was decided. The government said the commission’s statement confirmed that derogation on spring hunting was possible under EU law and that such a derogation was discussed during the accession talks”.

Of course, nobody ever disputed that a derogation was in theory possible. But what is simply beyond any dispute (except apparently to naive hunters who believe everything politicians tell them) is that the EU never granted any derogation to the Maltese government. This makes spring hunting in Malta illegal.

“In view of a European Court decision against Finland, taken after Malta joined the EU, the European Commission was now saying that a derogation should not be allowed in Malta since the bag declared by Maltese hunters showed that autumn was a sufficient alternative for spring hunting.

The government, while saying it would argue its case before the court, observed that since the procedure fell under article 226 of the treaty, Malta would not be liable to any fines or penalties”.

Of course, I will not take the government’s word for it, more so if the EU decides to impose immediate interim measures (a temporary court order) to prevent the opening of the coming season, and the government goes ahead and defies the EU once again. Moreover, one should question the integrity of a government willing to waste EU money (if not local taxpayers’ money) just to win a few votes from the hunting lobby. If this is not evidence of a government in serious crisis, I wonder what would be. But of course, what does the arrogant Nationalist party care about the will of the majority of Maltese citizens?

“Meanwhile, BirdLife International and BirdLife Malta welcomed the European Commission’s decision.

‘Unfortunately, the Maltese government has missed many opportunities in the past to solve this case and to avoid European wide embarrassment for the country’ said Konstantin Kreiser, EU Policy Manager at BirdLife in Brussels.

‘Therefore, we can only welcome the Commission’s decision to take Malta to Court now’.

BirdLife called on the Maltese government to respond to the Commission’s actions by officially declaring the end of spring hunting in Malta, for 2008 and beyond.

‘If the Maltese government opens another spring hunting season this year, BirdLife will urge the European Commission to ask the European Court of Justice for an immediate order’, Kreiser concluded”.

But of course, the Nationalist Party’s Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando tells us that his government cares about animals. Sure, and I can run as fast as a million miles an hour!

And of course, the above does not mean that the hunters’ government (it is definitely not mine) has any chance of winning the case in Brussels. It only means that there is the certainty of waste of funds, and the possiblilty of more illegal murder of birds next spring. The government must sure hope that the hunters’ votes are worth the trouble of being rightly judged as an animal murderer, a dictator (going against the will of the majority) and a squanderer of public funds!

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