Dear Stewart,
Thank
you for your email regarding the nomination of Karmenu Vella as
Commissioner-designate for Environment, Maritime Affairs and
Fisheries.
Let
me assure you that I share your concerns on this matter. Labour MEPs
have for some time been pushing the European Commission to take
action on illegal bird hunting in several Mediterranean countries and
to ensure the Maltese Government is fully enforcing the provisions of
the Birds
Directive. Earlier this year I submitted a written
question to the Commission regarding illegal bird hunting; I have
also co-signed a number of letters with BirdLife Malta, calling on
the Commission to take urgent action on Malta's decision to open
spring and autumn hunting seasons. I was pleased that the Maltese
government recently decided to abandon plans to allow finch-trapping
to go ahead, a practice which was originally out-lawed in Malta as
part of the country's EU Accession Agreement. However, I believe the
European Commission needs to do much more if we are to save
endangered species from being hunted to extinction.
Labour
MEPs were therefore extremely surprised when the Maltese Commissioner
was nominated for this position, with responsibility for biodiversity
and overseeing a possible revision of the Birds and Habitats
Directives. I can assure you that this issue was raised during the
scrutiny hearing in the European Parliament's Environment committee.
If you would like to watch the hearing, a video is available here:
The
EU, although falling short of where it should be, is a world-leader
when it comes to environmental and wildlife protection. It would be
very short-sighted if the proposed Commission were to row back on
some of the protections in place.
However,
if confirmed as Commissioner, Mr Vella will not be representing the
interests of Malta, but the interests of the European Union as a
whole. I was pleased to hear Mr Vellaemphasise
this in his hearing and reiterate that he condemns illegal hunting
and will work to enforce the provisions of the Birds Directive across
Europe. However, as part of his portfolio, Mr Vella has been tasked
with carrying out an in-depth evaluation of the Birds and Habitats
Directives. I can assure you that Labour MEPs will follow any
revision of these Directives very closely and we will work hard to
ensure that there is no watering down of vital environmental and
wildlife protection.
I
hope you have found this information useful but if you have further
questions on this, or any other matter, please do not hesitate to
contact me.
Best wishes
Glenis
Willmott MEP
