(BRUSSELS) - The EU commission on Friday hailed a European court ban on the spring hunting of quails and turtle doves in Malta.

A commission spokeswoman said the EU's executive arm had become "very concerned that for both the quails and turtle doves which return to Malta in spring time to nest the current hunting practices would endanger the species".

The Luxembourg court ruling would "stop damage being done to the environment which cannot later be rectified," Barbara Helfferich, spokeswoman for the commission on environmental issues, told reporters in Brussels.

Birdlovers are up in arms over spring hunting of wild birds, which is illegal under EU law but a deep-seated tradition in Malta, an important resting place for birds migrating between Africa and Europe and an EU member since 2004.

The European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that Malta should not this year apply a special derogation under which the hunting has continued.

The court made the order after the commission argued that the annual "hunting during the spring migration would have a devastating impact" on the population of the two bird species.

The court ruled that "the interest of the hunters does not appear to have a value superior" to protecting the EU's "common heritage".

While the court ruling only covers this year, Helfferich said it would provide a good precedent if Malta attempted to permit the bird hunting next spring.

"It is also an important case in relation to other countries who do have spring hunting or are about to introduce laws in relation to spring hunting."

Malta is the only EU member state that allows spring hunting of quails and turtle doves, both of whose populations are declining rapidly in Europe.

The dispute has allegedly led to a spate of violence and vandal attacks widely blamed on Malta's Federation for Hunting and Conservation, though few have been pinned directly on the association.

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