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From The Malta Independent June 11, 2001
The Association of Friends of Traditional Hunting in the Mediterranean (AACT) has held a conference in Italy dealing with
hunting issues and the EU.
The main theme of the meeting was the application and interpretation of an EU Directive on birds. Secretary of the Federation
for Hunting & Conservation, Malta and vice-president of AACT, Lino Farrugia, addressed the conference.Hunters representatives
and scientists from Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Greece took part to try and work towards the correct interpretation
of key words and phrases in the Birds directive. These findings can be presented to the EU Commission to avoid confusion whenever
the directive is applied. Such a meeting was necessary as the commission has said it will not amend the directive and all
parties have to work within existing guidelines. Following the conference, Mr Farrugia explained that the more he attends
such meetings, the more he is convinced that if Malta becomes a member of the EU, the only way that Maltese hunters and trappers
can retain their traditional sports will be through specific and documented pre-EU accession conditions and agreements.
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