LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that Malta has failed to fulfill its obligations under the Birds Directive on the conservation of wild birds by adopting the derogation allowing the capture of seven species of wild finches. This decision was communicated after the Maltese government failed to provide a genuine scientific purpose that would justify the derogation from the Birds Directive.
In the European Union, wild finches are protected by the Birds Directive. The primary objective of the Directive is the preservation of all bird species diversity, forbidding the deliberate killing or capture of birds and the use of large-scale or non-selective methods to do so. Despite this, the Directive prescribes specific circumstances whereby the general prohibition may be derogated. In 2020 Malta adopted the Finches Project under Framework Regulations 2020, which provided for the live capture of the same seven species of wild finches, this time however under however under a different derogation, the one for research purposes. The Commission viewed this as simply a ‘cover-up’ to enable the continuation of the previous recreational activities, and for this reason, and amongst others, has initiated the infringement action. When Malta joined the EU, the Accession Treaty provided for a transition period whereby Malta committed to gradually phase out the activities of bird trapping since such practice is prohibited under the Directive.
– Foto: Agenzia Fotogramma –
(ITALPRESS).
