Dalli warns Malta on ‘eggs directive’

European commissioner John Dalli may have refused to comment on the current political crisis, but he has seemingly found the time to write to minister George Pullicino warning him that the commission has initiated the first stages of legal proceedings against Malta for having failed to fully enforce the "welfare of laying eggs directive."

Spokesman Frederick Vincent was quoted to have told Maltese media in Brussels that "Commissioner Dalli - like all Maltese citizens - is following closely the situation in his home country.

The spokesman said howeve,r that EU inspection teams are currently visiting all member states - including Malta - about the "consequences of non-compliance to the welfare of laying eggs directive."

Dalli has written to Pullicino - and other European ministers - explaining that infringement procedures would be launched against any country that failed to meet the 1 January 2012 deadline to convert all conventional cages to enriched cages.

The deadline has now passed, but Malta - together with Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain, have all failed to meet it.

According to the Commission's latest figures, more than 47.7 million hens are still in conventional cages, representing 14% of the EU flock, and by the end of January, around one billion eggs will have been produced and sold into the European market.

Before Christmas, Dalli warned through 'pre-infringement' letters that the Commission expects all member states who are non-compliant with the new laws, asking them to submit action plans and lists of producers still using conventional eggs.