Press Release: Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-76/08. Commission v Malta

By authorising spring hunting of quails and turtle doves from 2004 to 2007, Malta has failed to comply with the wild birds directive. The opening of the spring hunting season for those two species for approximately two months, during their migration period, which results in a mortality rate three times higher for quails and eight times higher for turtle doves than that resulting from the autumn hunting season, is disproportionate.