COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The EU Environmental Implementation Review 2019 Country Report - MALTA Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Environmental Implementation Review 2019: A Europe that protects its citizens and enhances their quality of life
Date: 2019-04-04
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, Malta, application of EU law, climate change policy, environmental law, environmental protection, governance, green economy, public health, quality of the environment

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 4.4.2019  SWD(2019) 127 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The EU Environmental Implementation Review 2019   Country Report - MALTA       Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Environmental Implementation Review 2019:  A Europe that protects its citizens and enhances their quality of life   {COM(2019) 149 final} - {SWD(2019) 111 final} - {SWD(2019) 112 final} - {SWD(2019) 113 final} - {SWD(2019) 114 final} - {SWD(2019) 115 final} - {SWD(2019) 116 final} - {SWD(2019) 117 final} - {SWD(2019) 118 final} - {SWD(2019) 119 final} - {SWD(2019) 120 final} - {SWD(2019) 121 final} - {SWD(2019) 122 final} - {SWD(2019) 123 final} - {SWD(2019) 124 final} - {SWD(2019) 125 final} - {SWD(2019) 126 final} - {SWD(2019) 128 final} - {SWD(2019) 129 final} - {SWD(2019) 130 final} - {SWD(2019) 131 final} - {SWD(2019) 132 final} - {SWD(2019) 133 final} - {SWD(2019) 134 final} - {SWD(2019) 135 final} - {SWD(2019) 136 final} - {SWD(2019) 137 final} - {SWD(2019) 138 final} - {SWD(2019) 139 final}  
 
 
This  report  has  been  written  by  the  staff  of  the  Directorate-General  for  Environment,  European  Commission. 
Comments are welcome, please send them to ENV-EIR@ec.europa.eu 

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©European Union, 2019 

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1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table of Contents 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................... 3 

PART I: THEMATIC AREAS .............................................................................................................................. 4 

1. 

TURNING  THE  EU  INTO  A  CIRCULAR,  RESOURCE-EFFICIENT,  GREEN  AND  COMPETITIVE  LOW-
CARBON ECONOMY .............................................................................................................................. 4 

Measures towards a circular economy ................................................................................................. 4 
Waste management .............................................................................................................................. 7 
Climate change ...................................................................................................................................... 9 

2. 

PROTECTING, CONSERVING AND ENHANCING NATURAL CAPITAL .................................................. 12 

Nature and biodiversity ....................................................................................................................... 12 
Maintaining and restoring ecosystems and their services .................................................................. 13 
Estimating natural Capital ................................................................................................................... 14 
Invasive alien species .......................................................................................................................... 15 
Soil protection ..................................................................................................................................... 15 
Marine protection ............................................................................................................................... 16 

3. 

ENSURING CITIZENS' HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE ........................................................................ 18 

Air quality ............................................................................................................................................ 18 
Industrial emissions ............................................................................................................................. 19 
 ................................................................................................................................................. 20 
Noise 
Water quality and management ......................................................................................................... 20 
Chemicals ............................................................................................................................................ 22 
Making cities more sustainable ........................................................................................................... 23 

PART II: ENABLING FRAMEWORK: IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS ................................................................... 26 

4. 

GREEN  TAXATION,  GREEN  PUBLIC  PROCUREMENT,  ENVIRONMENTAL  FUNDING  AND 
INVESTMENTS ..................................................................................................................................... 26 

Green taxation and environmentally harmful subsidies ..................................................................... 26 
Green public procurement .................................................................................................................. 27 
Environmental funding and investments ............................................................................................ 28 

5. 

STRENGTHENING ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE ......................................................................... 31 

Information, public participation and access to justice ...................................................................... 31 
Compliance assurance ......................................................................................................................... 32 
Effectiveness of environmental administrations................................................................................. 33 
International agreements ................................................................................................................... 35 
Sustainable development and the implementation of the UN SDGs .................................................. 36 

2 

 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

Executive summary 

Malta  and  the  Environmental  Implementation  Review 
(EIR) 

In the 2017 EIR, the main challenges identified for Malta 
on  the  implementation  of  EU  environmental  policy  and 
law in Malta were to: 

  speed  up  implementing  the  EU  waste  management 
requirements, due to extremely high landfill rates and 
very low recycling rates; 

  improve the air quality in the most urbanised areas by 
transport 

solutions 

systemic 

for 

introducing 
congestion; and 

  improve the protection of habitats and species of EU 
implementing  the  Natura  2000 
interest  by  fully 
instruments and strengthening the enforcement of the 
Birds Directive. 

Since  the  2017  EIR,  Malta  has  yet  to  organise  an  EIR 
national  dialogue  that  could  have  addressed  the 
challenges listed above. 

In 2017, the Commission launched the TAIEX-EIR Peer-to-
Peer  (EIR  P2P),  tool  to  facilitate  peer-to-peer  learning 
environmental 
between 
authorities.  Malta  has  participated 
in  the  EIR  P2P 
workshop  on  timber  and  in  a  EIR  P2P  workshop  on  air 
quality plans. 

national 

experts 

from 

Progress on meeting challenges since the 2017 EIR 

Although  there  has  been  some  progress  on  waste  with 
the nationwide introduction of the organic bag collection 
that  was  rolled  out  on  31  October  2018,  significant 
improvements are needed to put  waste management in 
line  with  the  waste  hierarchy.  The  recycling  rate  is  too 
low,  far  below  the  EU  average  and  the  landfill  rate 
remains  too  high  -  over  three  times  the  EU  average. 
According  to  the  Commission’s  ‘Early  Warning  Report’ 
(2018),  Malta  is  considered  at  risk  of  non-compliance 
with  the  2020  municipal  waste  recycling  target  of  50 %. 
Urgent  reforms  and  enforcement  actions  are  needed  in 
important  areas,  notably  on  the  functioning  of  the 
Extended  Producer  Responsibility  Systems  and  on  the 
separation of waste collection. Malta has not capitalised 
yet  on  turning  waste  into  resource  and  low  recycling 
rates into business opportunities. 

is  particularly  pressing 

Reducing  emissions 
in  road 
transport, considering the increasing number of cars and 
the  ageing  car  fleet.  There  has  been  some  progress  in 
addressing  air  quality  and  traffic  congestion.  A  key 
measure taken by the Maltese authorities is the adoption 
of  a  reform  of  the  public  transport  service.  One  of  the 
objectives of this reform is to achieve a modal shift from 
cars  to  public  transport.  Moreover,  total  national 
emission continued to decrease between 2014 and 2016 

3 

for  sulfur  oxides  (SOx),  nitrogen  oxides  (NOx),  ammonia 
(NH3) and PM2.5. Nevertheless, additional efforts are still 
needed  to  define  strategic  targets  and  actions  beyond 
2020,  in  particular  on  emission  reduction  commitments 
laid  down 
in  the  new  National  Emissions  Ceilings 
Directive.  

Protection of habitats and species by fully implementing 
the  Natura  2000  instruments  and  strengthening  the 
enforcement  of  nature  directives  has  long  remained  a 
challenge in Malta. While the efforts put in place by the 
authorities 
in  this  area  are  noteworthy,  setting  up 
conservation  objectives  and  measures  require  further 
action.  In  response  to  the  judgement  of  the  Court  of 
Justice  of  the  EU  declaring  the  capture  of  seven  species 
of finches as contrary to EU law, Malta made progress by 
aligning  its  hunting  and  trapping  practices  to  the  Birds 
Directive, and notably repealed its framework regulations 
on autumn live-capturing season for finches. 

Malta is leading on the supply of government services to 
citizens, ranking first on the re-use of information across 
administrations  (pre-filled  forms)  as  well  as  on  the 
sophistication of services (online service completion) and 
continued to improve in digital public services. 

Examples of good practice 

 

The Don’t Waste Waste campaign by the Ministry for 
Environment,  Sustainable  Development  and  Climate 
Change has launched an online game to engage the 
public  in  understanding  more  about  good  waste 
management  practices  and  the  initiatives  that  are 
ongoing  in  Malta  and  Gozo.  At  the  same  time,  the 
public  can 
in  an 
entertaining  manner.  Tips  and 
ideas  are  also 
provided  on  how  to  reduce  the  waste  going  to 
landfill,  upcycling,  recycling  and  saving  what  can  be 
reused from going to waste. 

their  own  knowledge 

test 

 

the  planet 

through  an 

  As  part  of  the  pan-European  event  -  Researchers’ 
Night – for research and innovation for cities, Malta’s 
Science  &  Arts  Festival  2018  focused  on  plastic  by 
increasing  awareness  about  the  effects  of  plastic 
waste  on 
interactive 
exhibition. 
In  an  effort  to  ease  congestion  on  the  roads,  Malta 
introduced  a  free  school  transport  scheme  for  all 
students. 
Sustainable 
The  Ministry 
Development and Climate Change created an official 
Facebook  page  to  raise  awareness  and  to  use  the 
platform  to  announce  initiatives  such  as  litter  clean 
in  association  with  different 
ups  taking  place 
stakeholders and volunteers. 

Environment, 

for 

 

 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

Part I: Thematic areas 

1. Turning the EU into a circular, resource-efficient, green and 

competitive low-carbon economy 

Measures towards a circular economy 

The  Circular  Economy  Action  Plan  emphasises  the  need 
to  move  towards  a  life-cycle-driven  ‘circular’  economy, 
reusing  resources  as  much  as  possible  and  bringing 
residual  waste  close  to  zero.  This  can  be  facilitated  by 
developing  and  providing  access  to  innovative  financial 
instruments and funding for eco-innovation. 

Following  the  adoption  of  the  Circular  Economy  Action 
Plan in 2015 and the setting up  of a related stakeholder 
platform  in  2017,  the  European  Commission  adopted  a 
new  package  of  deliverables  in  January  20181.  This 
included  additional  initiatives  such  as:  (i)  an  EU  strategy 
for plastics; (ii) a Communication on how to address the 
interplay  between  chemical,  product  and  waste 
legislation; (iii) a report on critical raw materials; and (iv) 
a  framework  to  monitor  progress  towards  a  circular 
economy2. 

The  change  to  a  more  circular  economy  remains  a 
challenge  in  Malta.  According  to  the  EU  eco-innovation 
index, Malta remains in bottom group for eco-innovation 
performance (26th in the EU in 2016 from 18th in 2013). 
In addition, Malta’s size and island status pose a number 
of unique challenges.  

The  circular  economy  monitoring  framework  tracks  key 
trends  and  patterns  to  understand  how  the  various 
elements  of  the  circular  economy  are  developing  and 
whether  sufficient  action  has  been  taken.  Circular 
(secondary)  use  of  material  in  Malta  was  5.2 %  in  2016. 
This  was below EU-28 average of  11.7 % and decreasing 
when  compared  with  previous  years  (10.2 %  in  2014). 
However,  use  rate  for  circular  materials  has  increased 
since 2010, when there was a minimum of 4 %. 

In  the  2017  Special  Eurobarometer  468  on  attitudes  of 
EU  citizens  towards  the  environment,  90 %  of  Maltese 
people  appear  concerned  about  the  effects  of  plastic 
products on the environment (EU-28 average 87 %). 93 % 
said  they  were  worried  about  the  impact  of  chemicals 
(EU-28 average 90 %)3. There appears to be a very strong 
support 
and 
circular 
environmental protection actions in Malta. 

initiatives 

economy 

for 

1 European Commission, 2018 Circular Economy Package. 
2 COM(2018) 029. 
3 European Commission, 2017, Special 468 Eurobarometer, ‘Attitudes of 
European citizens towards the environment’. 

4 

Malta  introduced  new  relevant  policy  frameworks  as  a 
follow-up  to  its  ratification  of  the  Paris  Agreement  in 
2016.  The  ‘low-carbon  development  2050  strategy,’ 
announced  by  the  government  in  2017,  identified  the 
circular economy as key area of action for the decade to 
come.  Over  the  next  three  decades,  it  is  indicated  that 
the  government  will  promote  a  transition  towards  a 
more  circular  economy  —  particularly 
for  waste 
management. 

Malta does not have a national Circular Economy strategy 
or roadmap; comprehensive action is needed to support 
circularity.  

The  new  Resource  Recovery  and  Recycling  Agency  has 
been  established  to  foster  the  transition  towards  a 
circular  economy.  For  example,  the  Agency  is  set  to 
facilitate  the 
implementation  of  a  new  Beverage 
Container  Refund  System  (BCRS),  expected  in  2019  to 
improve the relevant collection system.  
Figure 1: Resource productivity 2010-20174 

In 2017, Malta held the presidency of the Council of the 
EU and made the circular  economy a  political priority of 
the presidency. It recently attracted some publicity, with 
the European Parliament holding an event on the circular 
economy  in  Malta  in  2017  with  the  participation  of  the 
University of Malta in the R2Pi Horizon 2020 project. 

Public support has yet to turn into strong private sector’s 
engagement. Industrial symbiosis is weak among Maltese 
SMEs, as well as design or future plans to design products 
that are easier to maintain, repair or reuse. 
On  resource  productivity5  (how  efficiently  the  economy 
uses  material  resources  to  produce  wealth),  Malta 

4 Eurostat, Resource productivity. 
5 Resource productivity is defined as the ratio between gross domestic 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

performs  below  EU  average,  with  1.53  EUR/kg  (EU 
average  is  2.04  EUR/kg)  in  2017.  Figure  1  shows  a 
decrease since 2013 levels. 

to  behave 

The number of EU Ecolabel products and EMAS-licensed 
organisations  (EMAS  is  the  European  Commission’s  Eco-
Management  and  Audit  Scheme  –  a  programme  to 
encourage  organisations 
in  a  more 
environmentally sustainable way) in a country can give a 
rough  measurement  of  this  transition.  These  two 
indicators  show  to  what  extent  the  circular  economy 
transition  is  engaging  the  private  sector  and  other 
national  stakeholders.  These  two  indicators  also  show 
the  commitment  of  public  authorities  to  policies  that 
support  the  circular  economy.  As  of  September  2018, 
Malta had six licences and six products registered in the 
EU  Ecolabel  scheme,  out  of  2167  licences  and  71 707 
products in the EU. All licenses and products in Malta are 
"Tourist  accommodation  services"6.  Moreover,  only  one 
organisation from Malta is currently registered in EMAS7. 

Malta  hosted  the  2017  EMAS  award  ceremony  and  the 
high level conference on sustainable tourism8. 

SMEs and resource efficiency 

Malta continues to perform on a par with the EU average 
on  environmental  matters.  Uptake  of  public  support  for 
environmental initiatives increased in 2017, with 25 % of 
SMEs  benefiting  from  public  support  for  their  resource-
efficiency  actions  (16  %  in  2015)  and  42  %  benefiting 
from  public  support  for  their  production  of  ‘green’ 
products (22 % in 2015). 

The proportion of Maltese SMEs that generate more than 
50 % of their revenue from green products and services is 
significantly lower than in the EU average. Yet the share 
of  companies  that  offer  such  products  matches  the  EU 
level. 

The  latest  Eurobarometer  on  ‘SMEs,  resource  efficiency 
and green markets’9 asked companies about both recent 
resource efficiency actions they had taken and additional 
resource-efficiency  actions  they  planned  to  take  in  the 
next  2  years  and  compared  responses  to  2015.  Recent 
investments  have  been  significantly  below  the  EU-
average  notably  in  areas  like  saving  water  and  saving 

product (GDP) and domestic material consumption (DMC). 
6 European Commission, Ecolabel Facts and Figures. 
7 As of May 2018. European Commission, Eco-Management and Audit 
Scheme. 
8 European Union, High level conference on sustainable tourism and 
EMAS awards 2017  
9 Flash Eurobarometer 456 ‘SME, resource efficiency and green 
markets’ January 2018. The 8 dimensions were Save energy; Minimise 
waste; Save materials; Save Water; Recycle by reusing material 
internally; Design products easier to maintain, repair or reuse; Use 
renewable energy; Sell scrap materials to another company. 

materials.  Recent  investments  in  saving  energy  and 
recycling  within  the  private  sector  have  been  very  high 
and are above EU-28 averages. Ambitions are among the 
lowest in the EU and are not forecast to rise significantly 
for  the  next  two  years.  42 %  (19 %  EU-28)  of  Maltese 
companies  do  not  intend  to  invest  at  all  in  resource 
efficiency.  Only  renewable  energy  use  has  a  certain 
traction (24 % of Maltese companies intend to act in this 
area; EU-28 22 %). 
Figure 2: Environmental performance of SMEs10  

Only 24 % of Maltese companies (compared to 22 % EU-
average,  range  3 %-38 %)  relied  on  external  support  in 
their  efforts  to  be  more  resource-efficient.  The  low 
number  of  respondents  makes  it  difficult  to  give  a  clear 
indication  of  preferred  cooperation  partners.  The 
dominant  external  cooperation  partner  are  banks  and 
other  private  finance  companies  mentioned  by  78 % 
(+33 %);  public  funding  was  only  indicated  by  16 %  of 
respondents.  External  advice  is  rarely  used.  Only  16 % 
indicate cooperation with private sector consultants and 
7 %  with 
business 
associations. 

administrations 

public 

and 

Among  Maltese  companies,  grants  and  subsidies  are 
mentioned  by  60 %  as  being  helpful  (compared  to  36 % 
for  the  EU  average).  Technical  (31 %)  and  financial 
consultancy  (33 %)  received  higher  support  than  the  EU 

10 European Commission, 2018 SBA fact sheet - Malta, p.14  

5 

                                                                                                        
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

average.  In  contrast  all  other  forms  of  support  like 
technology  demonstration,  databases  of  good  practice 
and  self-assessment  tools  receive  only  marginal  interest 
(3-8 %). 

Maltese SMEs have invested in resource efficiency, but it 
led to higher production costs in the short term, creating 
a  need  for  external  funds.  Various  initiatives  have  been 
put  in  place  to  improve  access  to  finance  for  SMEs, 
including  setting  up  the  Malta  Development  Bank. 
However, Maltese SMEs are still having trouble accessing 
finance. 

look  primarily  at  the 
Maltese  businesses  seem  to 
financial  dimension  of  resource  efficiency  investment. 
Ambitions are higher in areas that offer a faster financial 
return, banks are the major external cooperation partner, 
grants / subsidies and financial advice are considered by 
far as being the most helpful types of support. In such an 
environment, clearer price signals  — also in the form of 
tax  schemes  for  investments  —  might  set  the  right 
incentives. 

Eco-innovation 

In  2018,  Malta  ranked  15th on  the  European  innovation 
scoreboard. Malta has become the third fastest  growing 
innovator  (15.2 %  increase  since  2010)11.  The  country 
also  ranked  15th  on  the  eco-innovation  scoreboard  for 
2017,  which  measures  environment-related  aspects  of 
innovation (see Figure 3). 

Malta’s  performance  in  the  European  eco-Innovation 
scoreboard  has  known  fluctuation  over  the  past  years, 
although  it  has  always  been  below  the  EU-28  average 
(see  Figure  4).  The  gap  between  the  EU  28  average  and 
the  Maltese  eco-innovation  performance  is  diminishing 
as time progresses. 

Energy dependency, few natural resources, lack of space 
limiting  economies  of  scales,  a  relatively  limited  pool  of 
human  resources  and  complicating  land  use,  create  a 
need  for  eco-innovation.  Despite  of  the  necessity  to 
promote as much as possible eco-innovation nationwide, 
the  lack  of  adequate  resources  makes  the  transition 
harder. 

is  one  of  the 

The energy sector in Malta is the most developed for eco-
leading 
innovation  activities.  Malta 
countries 
in  the  EU  for  reducing  primary  energy 
consumption.  However,  waste  reduction  and  saving  on 
materials by SMEs has steeply decreased since 2015. Full 
implementation  of  transportation  and  energy  reforms 
should  decrease  Malta’s  dependency  on  imported  fossil 
fuels  and  growing  energy  efficiency  is  expected  to  leave 
more money for investment. 

Malta’s  green  economy  remains  one  of  the  smallest  in 
the EU. In 2017 green jobs receded in Malta compared to 
2015. 

Figure 3: 2017 Eco-innovation Index (EU=100)12 

Access  to  finance  represents  a  strong  barrier  to  eco-
innovation in businesses. 

Figure 4: Malta’s eco-innovation index 2017 (EU=100) 

Although  R&D  investments  have  grown  over  the  past 
decade, it did not compare with overall economic growth 
and expenses have started decreasing in 201613. 

2019 priority action 

 

Stregthen  the  policy  framework  to  speed  up  the 
transition  towards  the  circular  economy  and  make 
resource  efficiency  more 
incentives 
effective. 

for  SME 

11 European Commission, European innovation Scoreboard 2018 . 

12 Eco-innovation Observatory: Eco-Innovation scoreboard 2017. 
13 European Commission, Eco-Innovation Observatory, Country profile 
2016-2017: Malta. 

6 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

Waste management 

Turning waste into a resource is supported by: 
(i)  fully 
legislation,  which 
implementing  EU  waste 
includes  the  waste  hierarchy,  the  need  to  ensure 
separate  collection  of  waste,  the 
landfill  diversion 
targets, etc.; 
(ii) reducing waste generation and waste generation per 
capita in absolute terms; and  
(iii)  limiting  energy  recovery  to  non-recyclable  materials 
and  phasing  out  landfilling  of  recyclable  or  recoverable 
waste. 

This  section  focuses  on  management  of  municipal 
waste14  for  which  EU  law  sets  mandatory  recycling 
targets15. 

Figure 5  shows Malta’s  municipal waste by treatment  in 
kg per capita. Municipal waste generation in 2017 is the 
highest in the EU (604 kg/y/inhabitant, compared to 487 
kg/y/inhabitant  on  average)  revealing  an 
increasing 
trend16. 

The  recycling  rate  is  only  6 %,  far  below  the  EU  average 
of  46 %  and  the  2020  target  of  50 %17.  Composting  in 
Malta  is  practically  non-existent  (compared  to  an  EU 
average of 17 %). 

Despite a  slight decrease in trend since  2014, data  from 
201718  show  that  with  86 %,  the  landfilling  rate  is  more 
than three times the EU average of 24 %. 
According  to  the  '‘Early  Warning  Report'’19  Malta  is 
considered  at  risk  of  missing  the  2020  municipal  waste 
recycling target of 50 %.  

As already highlighted in the previous EIR report, Malta’s 
heavy  reliance  on  waste  disposal  is  not  in  line  with  EU 
targets  and  is  an  unnecessary  pressure  on  its  limited 
land.  

Figure  6  shows  that  Malta  will  have  to  take  decisive 
measures  to  develop  recycling  in  the  coming  years  in 

14 Municipal waste consists of mixed waste and separately collected 
waste from households and from other sources, where such waste is 
similar in nature and composition to waste from households. This is 
without prejudice to the allocation of responsibilities for waste 
management between public and private sectors. 
15 See Article 11.2 of Directive 2008/98/EC. This Directive was amended 
in 2018 by Directive (EU) 2018/851, and more ambitious recycling 
targets were introduced for the period up to 2035. 
16 Waste generation per capita in Malta is inflated by the tourism sector: 
some 1.6 million tourists visit Malta every year. 
17 Member States may choose a different method than the one used by 
ESTAT (and referred to in this report) to calculate their recycling rates 
and track compliance with the 2020 target of 50 % recycling of 
municipal waste. 
18 Eurostat, Municipal waste and treatment, by type of treatment 
method. 
19 SWD(2018) 421. 

view  of  the  2020  and  subsequent  recycling  targets20. 
Moreover, in 2035 the landfilling of municipal waste will 
be limited to a maximum of 10 %.  

Figure  5:  Municipal  waste  by  treatment  in  Malta  2010-
201721 

A significant challenge to effective and sustainable waste 
management  is  the  diseconomies  of  scale  that  result 
from the geographic realities of Malta, as an archipelago 
of  small  islands  without  road  or  rail  links  to  continental 
Europe. 

Malta’s  2014-2020  waste  management  plan  recognises 
the  major  problems  the  country  is  facing  with  waste 
management and includes useful policy actions.  

There  are  two  mechanical  and  biological  management 
facilities (MBT) to treat mixed household waste in Malta. 
The  second  facility,  built  with  the  support  of  the  EU 
Cohesion  Funds,  started  to  operate  in  2016.  Untreated 
residual  waste  and  non-recycled  outputs  from  MBT  are 
disposed  of  in  Malta’s  managed  landfills,  or  if  possible, 
exported for incineration. The organic fraction is treated 
through  anaerobic  digestion  and  generates  electricity 
while the digestate is used as a landfill cover. 

Malta has a door-to-door household collection system for 
recyclables  in  place.  The  system  runs  via  two  schemes, 
which  collect  grey/green  bags  on  a  specific  day  as  per 
established agreement. However, its implementation has 
been  rather  slow  coupled  with  a  decrease 
in  the 
frequency  of  residual  waste  collection  (from  five  times 

20 Directive (EU) 2018/851, Directive (EU) 2018/852, Directive (EU) 
2018/850 and Directive (EU) 2018/849 amend the previous waste 
legislation and set more ambitious recycling targets for the period up to 
2035. These targets will be taken into consideration to assess progress 
in future Environmental Implementation Reports. 
21 Eurostat, Municipal waste by waste operations. 

7 

                                                                 
 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

per week to three times per week). That said, the roll-out 
is expanding gradually. 
Figure 6: Recycling rate of municipal waste 2010-201722 

With  regards  to  the  collection  of  organic  waste  from 
households,  after  the  completion  of  a  pilot  phase  in  a 
limited  number  of  localities  in  the  last  two  years,  the 
national  roll-out  has  been 
launched  and  collection 
started  on  31th  of  October  2018.  The  organic  waste 
collected  through  this  separate  collection  system  are 
intended  to  be  diverted  to  one  single  plant  for  further 
processing. 
to  provide  a  positive 
contribution  to  recycling  rates  and  divert  more  waste 
away from landfill. 

is  expected 

It 

The  monthly  door-to-door  glass  collection  has  seen  an 
increase  in  the  collection  tonnes  between  January  2016 
and Summer 2018.  

No  dedicated  food  waste  collection  service 
is  yet 
provided  for  the  waste  business  sector.  However,  there 
are  already  provisions  to  ensure  collection  of  waste  by 
commercial  operators  and  discussions  with  key 
stakeholders  have  been  launched  to  ensure  a  more 
effective waste management provisions by the sector. 

Moreover,  works  are  on  progress  to  design  and  start 
operating a beverage container repository system. 

The  2017  tax  increase  applied  to  bags  used  for  mixed 
waste  -  although  low  -  but  functioning  in  the  same 
manner  as  pay-as-you-throw,  could  somewhat  help  to 
discourage 
residual  waste  and  promote  separate 
collection for recycling. 

in  other 
Little  to  no  progress  has  been  achieved 
important  areas  requiring  urgent  reform:  extending  the 
incentivising 
producer  responsibility  (EPR)  schemes, 

22 Eurostat, Recycling rate of municipal waste. 

to 

targets, 
comply  with 
municipalities 
strengthening  enforcement  capabilities,  increasing  the 
costs  of  waste  disposal,  and  improving  the  quality  of 
data. 

recycling 

To  meet  EU  targets,  Malta  will  need  to  invest  further  in 
the necessary infrastructure. New infrastructure is in the 
pipeline:  a  new  Material  Recovery  Facility  following  the 
fire  at  Sant’  Antnin  Plant,  a  multi  material  recovery 
facility and a  waste to energy plant  to treat that part  of 
the  waste  collection  that  is  not  recyclable.  It  should  be 
underlined  that  the  construction  works  for  the  new 
waste  facility  at  Maghtab  are  planned  to  start  in  2019 
with  a  completion  date  set  for  2023.  It  is  important  to 
ensure  that  this  is  planned  with  the  future  recycling 
targets and waste prevention efforts in mind.  

A  gradually  increasing  landfill  tax  would  help  to  divert 
waste from landfills. The revenues from this tax, together 
with  a  better  allocation  of  EU  Cohesion  Funds,  could 
the 
support 
implementation of the waste hierarchy. 

investment  needs 

supporting 

the 

In order to support Malta in bridging the implementation 
gap,  the  Commission  has  issued  in  its  ‘Early  Warning 
Report’  a  set  of  recommended  key  priority  actions. 
According to the report, municipalities play a key role in 
the  system.  Therefore,  more  effective  incentives  for  the 
local authorities are necessary, including recycling targets 
with  sanctions  for  non-compliance.  Separate  collection 
needs to be significantly improved, including a minimum 
service  standard  developed  at  the  national  level,  while 
extended  responsibility  schemes  for  packaging  require 
reform.  Finally,  a  technical  support  to  local  councils  on 
the  practical  aspects  of  organisation  of  the  separate 
collection organised at the national level, would be highly 
beneficial. 

2019 priority actions 

 

 

Introduce  a  landfill  tax  and  gradually  increase  it  to 
divert  recyclable  waste  from  landfill.  Channel  those 
improve  waste 
revenues  towards  measures  to 
management in line with the waste hierarchy. 
Establish  minimum  service  standards  for  separate 

8 

 
                                                                 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

collection  (e.g.  frequency  of  collections,  types  of 
containers  etc.)  in  municipalities  to  ensure  high 
capture rates of recyclable waste. 
Improve  coordination  and 
implement  support 
programmes  for  municipalities  to  organise  separate 
collection (e.g. pay-as-you through schemes). 
Improve  the  effectiveness  of  the  EPR  system  for 
packaging 
line  with  the  general  minimum 
in 
requirements on EPR23. 

 

 

Climate change 

The EU has committed to undertaking ambitious climate 
action internationally as well as in the EU, having ratified 
the Paris Climate Agreement on 5 October 2016. The EU 
targets are to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 
20 % by 2020 and by at least 40 % by 2030, compared to 
1990.  As  a  long-term  target,  the  EU  aims  to  reduce  its 
emissions  by  80-95 %  by  2050,  as  part  of  the  efforts 
required by developed countries as a group. Adapting to 
the adverse effects of climate change is vital to alleviate 
its  already  visible  effects  and  improve  preparedness  for 
and resilience to future impacts. 

is 

Due  to  its  geophysical,  social  and  economic  constraints, 
itself  particularly  vulnerable  to  the  direct 
Malta 
impacts of climate change. Any action that is taken today, 
on a national and global level, to address climate change, 
will  be  reflected  as  reduced  (economic  and  social) 
adaptation costs in the future.  

The EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) covers all large 
greenhouse  gas  emitters  in  the  industry,  power  and 
aviation  sectors  in  the  EU.  The  EU  ETS  applies  in  all 
Member States and has a very high compliance rate. Each 
year,  installations  cover  around  99 %  of  their  emissions 
with the required number of allowances.  

For emissions not covered by the EU ETS, Member States 
have  binding  national  targets  under  the  Effort  Sharing 
legislation24.  Malta  had  higher  emissions  than  its  annual 
targets  in  each  of  the  years  2013-2017.  To  compensate 
for  this,  Malta  has  utilised  flexibilities  provided  by  the 
Effort  Sharing  Decision,  and  has  thereby  complied  with 
its  obligations  under  the  same  decision  (the  compliance 
cycle for 2016 is still to be finalised).  

According  to  preliminary  data, 
exceeded 
percentage points.  

in  2017,  emissions 
the  annual  emission  allocations  by  23 

For  2020,  Malta's  national  target  under  the  EU  Effort 
Sharing Decision is to avoid increasing emissions by more 
than  5  %  compared  to  2005.  For  2030,  Malta's  national 

23 Set out in Directive (EU) 2018/851 amending Directive 2008/98/EC 
24 See Regulation (EU) 2018/842. 

target  under  the  Effort  Sharing  Regulation  will  be  to 
reduce emissions by 19 % compared to 2005. As shown in 
figure  8,  Malta's  national  projections  show  that,  with 
existing  measures,  the  2030  target  may  be  missed  by  a 
margin of 46 percentage points. 

Figure  7:  Change  in  total  greenhouse  gas  1990-2017 
(1990=100%)25. 

Malta is implementing a National Strategy for Policy and 
Abatement  Measures  Relating  to  the  Reduction  of 
Greenhouse Gas Emissions.  

The Low Carbon Development Strategy is currently being 
formulated and this will have an outlook to 2050 and will 
replace all other policies and strategies. This is expected 
to be finalised at the start of 2020.  

Malta  published  its  National  Energy  Policy  in  2012.  This 
provides  the  measures  to  be  implemented  by  2020  and 
also a longer-term vision to 2030. The goal is to have 10% 
of  energy  produced  from  renewable  sources  by  2020. 
This will be achieved through developing a legal planning 
framework  to  support  renewable  energy,  promoting 
private investment in large scale renewable projects and 
micro  generation  and  introducing  feed  in  tariff  support 
for PV. Improving energy efficiency is also a key theme of 
the policy. This aspect has been further developed in the 
Country’s  2017  National  Energy  Efficiency  Action  Plan, 
which outlines a target of energy savings by 2020, shows 
how  the  country  intends  to  generate  these  savings  and 
demonstrates the results achieved so far.  

The  2017  National  Renewable  Energy  Action  Plan 
(NREAP) is also of importance. This was first submitted to 

25 Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990–2016 (EEA 
greenhouse gas data viewer). Proxy GHG emission estimates for 
2017Approximated EU greenhouse gas inventory 2017 (European 
Environment Agency). Member States national projections, reviewed by 
the European Environment Agency. 

9 

                                                                 
 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

the  European  Commission  in  2011  and  then  an  update 
was  provided  in  2017.  It  covers  the  period  out  to  2020 
and outlines how the 10% target will be reached.  

Figure 8: Targets and emissions under the Effort Sharing 
Decision and Effort Sharing Regulation26. 

enhance the preparedness and capacity of all governance 
levels to respond to the impacts of climate change.  

The  current  Maltese  National  Adaptation  Strategy  was 
adopted in 2012. The 2015 Climate Action Act formalises 
the  requirement  to  maintain  a  strategy  that  is  reviewed 
and  updated  at  least  every  four  years.  Several  sectorial 
action  plans  are  available,  covering  the  most  vulnerable 
sectors,  which  are  water  resources,  infrastructure  and 
land  use,  natural  ecosystems,  agriculture  and  fisheries, 
health,  civil  protection 
immigration  and  vulnerable 
groups, and finally tourism.  

Figure 9: Greenhouse gas emissions by sector (Mt. CO2-
eq.). Historical data 1990-2016. Projections 2017-203027. 

Research  and  innovation  for  addressing  the  climate 
change  challenges  in  Malta  is  being  addressed  through 
the  national  research  and  innovation  (R&I)  strategy  for 
2014 – 2020. 

Transport  represents  almost  a  quarter  of  Europe's 
greenhouse  gas  emissions  and  is  the  main  cause  of  air 
pollution in cities. Transport emissions in Malta increased 
by 9 % from 2012 to 2016. 

Under  the  F-gas  regulation,  Member  States  must 
implement  training  and  certification  programmes  and 
rules  for  penalties  and  notify  these  measures  to  the 
Commission  by  2017.  Malta  has  ratified  the  Doha 
amendment however this has not entered into force and 
Malta  considers  that  it  will  provide  the  final  figures  for 
the 2022 period. 

Malta is the only EU Member State with no reported and 
accounted  quantities  under  the  Kyoto  Protocol  second 
commitment period. 

The  EU  Strategy  on  adaptation  to  climate  change, 
adopted  in  2013,  aims  to  make  Europe  more  climate-
resilient, by promoting action by Member States, better-
informed  decision  making,  and  promoting  adaptation  in 
key vulnerable sectors. By adopting a coherent approach 
and  providing  for  improved  coordination,  it  seeks  to 

26 Proxy GHG emission estimates for 2017Approximated EU greenhouse 
gas inventory 2017 (European Environment Agency). Member States 
national projections, reviewed by the European Environment Agency. 

Monitoring  of  adaptation  measures  is  done  through  the 
screening  of  Malta's  National  Environment  Policy  under 
the sections related to climate change, while monitoring 
on  the  strategy  implementation  is  done  by  the  sectorial 
focal  persons  on  the  Inter-Ministerial  Committee  on 
Climate  Change.  Malta  has  initiated  the  process  of 
developing a national Low Carbon Development Strategy 
(LCDS)  which,  given,  the  particular  specificities  of  the 
country  and  in  view  of  being  a  vulnerable  island  in  the 
incorporate  the  National 
Mediterranean,  will  also 
Adaptation Strategy.  

As  of  May  2018,  24  cities  and  municipalities  in  Malta 
have  committed  to  the  Covenant  of  Mayors.  However, 
none has committed to adaptation planning and actions 
within the framework of the Covenant of Mayors. 

The  total  revenues  from  the  auctioning  of  emission 
allowances  under  the  EU  ETS  over  the  years  2013-2017 

27 Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990–2016 (EEA 
greenhouse gas data viewer). Proxy GHG emission estimates for 
2017Approximated EU greenhouse gas inventory 2017 (European 
Environment Agency). Member States national projections, reviewed by 
the European Environment Agency. 

10 

 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

were EUR 25 million. On average 96 % of the auctioning 
revenues have been spent, or its use planned, on climate 
and energy purposes.  

2019 priority action 

In this report, no priority actions have been included on 
climate action, as the Commission will first need to assess 
the  draft  national  energy  and  climate  plans  which  the 
Member  States  needed  to  send  by  end  of  2018.  These 
plans  should  increase  the  consistency  between  energy 
and climate policies and could therefore become a good 
example  of  how  to  link  sector-specific  policies  on  other 
interlinked themes  such as agriculture-nature-water and 
transport-air-health.  

11 

 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

2. Protecting, conserving and enhancing natural capital 

Nature and biodiversity 

in  the  EU  by  2020. 

The  EU  biodiversity  strategy  aims  to  halt  the  loss  of 
biodiversity 
full 
implementation  of  the  Birds  and  Habitats  Directives  to 
achieve  favourable  conservation  status  of  protected 
species and habitats. It also requires that the agricultural 
and 
improve 
forest 
biodiversity. 

sectors  help  maintain  and 

It  requires 

Biodiversity strategy 

Malta’s first national biodiversity strategy and action plan 
(2012-2020)28  entitled 
‘Working  Hand-in-Hand  with 
Nature’, was adopted in 2012. 

Setting up a coherent network of Natura 2000 sites 

The 34 local terrestrial Natura 2000 sites together cover 
approximately 13 % of the total land area of the Maltese 
Islands  (around  41km2).  These  sites  include  the  minor 
islands  (Kemmuna,  Filfla  and  Selmunett,  and  their 
surrounding  islets),  coastal  cliffs  (including  Rdumijiet  ta’ 
Malta:  Ir-Ramla  taċ-Ċirkewwa  sal-Ponta  ta’  Bengħisa), 
saline  marshlands  (Is-Salini  and  Il-Ballut  ta’  Marsaxlokk), 
sandy  beaches  and  dunes  (L-Inħawi  tal-Għadira  and  L-
Inħawi  tar-Ramla),  areas  of  garrigue  and  maquis  (L-
Inħawi ta’ Pembroke and Il-Qortin tal-Magun u l-Qortin il-
Kbir),  woodland  areas  (L-Inħawi  tal-Buskett  u  Il-Girgenti 
and  Il-Ballut  tal-Wardija),  as  well  as  caves  and  other 
geological  features  (Għar  Dalam  and  Il-Maqluba).  There 
are  also  eight  marine  sites,  including  three  recently 
established ones. 

Compliance  with  the  legal  requirement  for  Member 
States  to  set  up  a  coherent  national  network  of  Natura 
2000 sites is being assessed for each species and habitat 
type  occurring  on  the  national  territory  of  the  Member 
States. On the basis of the latest assessment carried out 
by  the  Commission  in  cooperation  with  the  European 
Environment  Agency  (EEA),  the  terrestrial  Natura  2000 
network is now considered to be completed. 

On  the  marine  part  of  the  network,  the  Commission 
welcomes  the  new  designations  communicated  in  June 
2018,  which  enhance  the  protection  of  reefs  and  caves, 
and is assessing the sufficiency of the Maltese network in 
light of the agreed criteria. 

28 The Government of Malta, Malta’s national biodiversity strategy and 
action plan (2012-2020)  

Designating Natura 2000 sites and setting conservation 
objectives and measures 

The  six-year  deadline  set  by  the  Habitats  Directive  to 
designate  Special  Areas  of  Conservation  and  establish 
appropriate  conservation  objectives  and  measures  has 
expired  for  32  sites.  Malta  has  now  designated  27  SACs 
and has adopted conservation orders for eight of them as 
well as 20 management plans for another 19 sites. On the 
five remaining SCIs to be designated as SACs, all marine, 
one  should  be  designated  as  SAC  and  conservation 
measures  should  be  adopted  by  2019,  according  to  the 
information reported by the Maltese authorities. 

in  place  by  the  Maltese  authorities 

The  adopted  designation  acts,  conservation  orders  and 
management  plans  are  under  assessment.  While  the 
in 
efforts  put 
developing  these  instruments  are  recognised,  a  first 
analysis shows that these might be insufficient to ensure 
full compliance with Articles 4(4) and 6(1) of the Habitats 
Directive.  In  particular,  the  designation  act  lacks  clarity 
on  the 
legal  protection  and  conservation  regime 
applicable  to  the  27  sites.  The  established  conservation 
objectives appear too generic and therefore not suitable 
for  establishing  the  required  conservation  measures. 
These conservation measures are sometimes not defined 
with  a  sufficient  level  of  detail  and  do  not  cover  all 
habitats  and  species  for  which  the  sites  have  been 
designated. 

Progress in maintaining or restoring favourable 
conservation status of species and habitats 

Considering that Member States report every 6 years on 
the  progress  made  under  both  directives,  no  new 
information  is  available  on  the  state  of  natural  habitats 
and  species,  or  on  progress  made  in  improving  the 
conservation  status  of  species  and  habitats  in  Malta,  as 
compared  to  the  2017  EIR.  The  next  report  under 

12 

 
 
                                                                 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

Article 17  of  the  Habitats  Directive  and  Article 12  of  the 
Birds Directive will be published in 2019. 

Illegal  trapping  and  killing  of  protected  species  remains 
one of the main challenges in Malta. A recent ruling from 
the  Court  of  Justice  of  the  EU  ruled  that  the  2014  and 
2015  measures  authorising  the  autumn  trapping  of 
finches did not comply with the conditions laid down by 
the  Directive  on  the  conservation  of  wild  birds  29.  In 
response  to  that  judgement,  Malta  made  progress  by 
aligning  its  hunting  and  trapping  practices  to  the  Birds 
Directive  and,  in  particular,  by  repealing  the  framework 
regulations on autumn live-capturing season for finches. 

2019 priority actions 

 
Complete the Natura 2000 designation process. 
  Draw  up  the  remaining  management  plans  for 
in  place  clearly  defined 
marine  sites  and  put 
conservation  objectives  as  well  as  the  necessary 
conservation  measures  for  all  the  sites.  Provide 
adequate  resources  for  their  implementation 
in 
order  to  maintain/restore  species  and  habitats  of 
community  interest  to  a  favourable  conservation 
status across their natural range.  
Ensure  that  hunting  and  trapping  practices  comply 
with  the  Birds  Directive,  strengthen  enforcement 
efforts  and  invest  in  education  and  awareness-
raising programmes. 

 

Maintaining  and  restoring  ecosystems  and 
their services 

The EU biodiversity strategy aims to maintain and restore 
including  green 
ecosystems  and  their  services  by 
infrastructure  in  spatial  planning  and  restoring  at  least 
15 %  of  degraded  ecosystems  by  2020.  The  EU  green 
infrastructure  strategy  promotes  the  incorporation  of 
green infrastructure into related plans and programmes. 

The EU has provided guidance on the further deployment 
of green and blue infrastructure in Malta30 and a country 
page  on  the  Biodiversity  Information  System  for  Europe 
(BISE)31. This information will also contribute to the final 
evaluation of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020. 

Several  of  Malta’s  policies  explicitly  address  Green 
Infrastructure  and  connectivity,  including  the  national 
biodiversity  strategy  and  action  plan  2012-2020  and  the 
national environment policy (2012-2020). The rural policy 

and design guidance (2014)32 protects landscape features 
and  ecological  corridors  such  as  rubble  walls,  natural 
ponds, indigenous trees, etc. in agricultural areas, which 
enhance  connectivity  while  providing  habitats  for  flora 
and fauna. 

The  strategic  plan  for  environment  and  development 
(SPED)33  is  founded  on  an  integrated  planning  system 
regulating  the  sustainable  use  and  management  of  land 
and  sea  resources.  It  should  form  the  primary  basis  for 
decisions  on  all  development  and  environmental  permit 
applications.  A  national  transport  strategy,  2050  and 
transport  master  plan,  202534  have  been  developed  to 
cover  all  relevant  modes  of  transport  (land,  public 
transport,  sea  and  air)  for  the  short,  medium  and  long-
term.  One  of 
the  six  strategic  goals  promotes 
environmental and urban sustainability. 

to 

refers 

GI is therefore already integrated into some sectors. The 
agriculture  policy 
the  sustainability  of 
ecosystem  services  and  adapting  to  local  geo-climatic 
conditions.  Afforestation  projects  are  given  priority  to 
rehabilitate  degraded  habitats  and  enhance  green  open 
spaces.  They  have  already  upgraded  several  parks  and 
green belts and are seen as best practice. GI actions are 
also explored in the water management sector, as it can 
contribute to improving soil resources and water quality 
through  soil  conservation  measures  and  potentially 
improve water quantity in ecologically sensitive sites. 
The  LifeMedGreenRoof35  project  serves  as  a  pilot  to 
investigate how green roofs perform in a Mediterranean 
climate. It tested the potential of green roofs to insulate 
against  heat,  especially  in  the  summer  months.  It  also 
tested the potential of green roofs to reduce the use of 
air conditioning and to mitigate local flooding. At this end 
of the project, a draft policy document was submitted to 
the  Planning  Authority  to  be  considered  for  integration 
into planning policies. 

GI  projects  are  co-funded  by  the  government,  EU  funds 
and  in  some  cases  contributions  by  the  private  sector. 
However, technical assistance easing the use of available 
funds is needed and more financial incentives by local or 
central governments are needed. Similarly, structures to 
promote public-private partnerships to find additional GI 
finance are needed. 

In  general,  lack  of  awareness  and  public  participation 
hinder  GI  activities.  More  figures  on  the  benefits  of  GI 
and  more  spatial  data  are  needed  as  well  as  more 

29 C-557/15 - Commission v Malta, ruling of 21 June 2018. 
30 European Commission, The recommendations of the green 
infrastructure strategy review report and the EU Guidance on a 
strategic framework for further supporting the deployment of EU-level 
green and blue infrastructure. 
31 Biodiversity Information System for Europe. 

32 The Malta Environment and Planning Authority,  Rural Policy And 
Design Guidance, 2014  
33 The Malta Environment and Planning Authority, Strategic Plan for the 
Environment and Development  
34 The Government of Malta, The Development of National Transport 
Strategy, 2050 and Transport Master Plan, 2025  
35 EU LIFE project, LifeMedGreenRoof  

13 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

ecosystem services assessment and mapping methods in 
Malta. This study included the development of a land use 
land  cover  map  and  the  mapping  of  a  number  of 
ecosystem services. 

The  MCAST  will  be  applying  the  MAES  framework  at  a 
local  level  by  implementing  assessment  and  mapping 
techniques  for  the  capital  city  Valletta.  The  results  of 
these  two  projects  will  contribute  to  developing  the 
national assessment. 

At the MAES Working Group meeting held in Brussels in 
September  2018,  it  was  shown  that  Malta  has  made 
some  progress  in  implementing  MAES  (see  Figure  10). 
This  assessment  was  made  by  the  ESMERALDA  project39 
implementation  questions.  The 
and  based  on  27 
assessment 
is 
encouraged  to  continue  its  support  of  the  mapping  and 
assessment of ecosystems and their services. 

is  updated  every  six  months.  Malta 

Figure 10: Implementation of MAES (September 2018) 

Business  and  Biodiversity  platforms,  networks  and 
communities of practice are key tools for promoting and 
facilitating  natural  capital  assessments  (NCA)  among 
business  and  financial  service  providers  for  instance  via 
the  Natural  Capital  Protocol  of  the  Natural  Capital 
Coalition40.  NCA  helps  private  business  to  better 
understand  and  value  not  only  their  impacts  but  also 
their  dependencies  on  nature  and  thereby  contributing 
to  the  EU  Biodiversity  Strategy.  At  EU  level41  and  in  a 
number  of  the  Member  States  –  however  not  all  -  such 
platforms  have  been  established.  Malta  has  not  yet 
established such a platform and publish the results of its 
national assessment. 

resource  capacity  to  implement  GI.  The  outcome  of  the 
Mapping  and  Assessment  of  Ecosystems  and  their 
Services  (MAES)  process  would  be  useful  for  spatially 
explicit  prioritisation  and  problem  identification  for  GI 
uptake. 

Additional  efforts  are  needed  in  deploying  green  and 
blue  infrastructure  and  integrating  it  in  other  policies 
consistent  with  the  MAES  framework,  to  consider  the 
recommendations of the GI strategy review report36 and 
to  make  full  use  of  the  EU  guidance  on  a  strategic 
framework  for further  supporting the deployment  of EU 
level green and blue infrastructure37. 

Estimating natural Capital 

The  EU  biodiversity  strategy  calls  on  Member  States  to 
map  and  assess  the  state  of  ecosystems  and  their 
services38 in their national territories by 2014, assess the 
economic  value  of  such  services  and  integrate  these 
values  into  accounting  and  reporting  systems  at  EU  and 
national level by 2020. 

in 

Malta continues to implement the measures on mapping 
its  national 
and  assessing  ecosystem  services 
biodiversity  strategy  and  action  plan  2012-2020.  It  has 
invested in capacity building for mapping through intense 
GIS  training.  Consultations  with  stakeholders  will  be 
carried out subsequently on available data, including the 
developed ecosystem map, are going to be carried out on 
the  priority  ecosystem  services  and  indicators  to  be 
included in the national assessment. 

Work on the assessment of ecosystem services has been 
undertaken  by  the  Institute  of  Applied  Sciences  within 
the  Malta  College  of  Arts,  Science  and  Technology 
(MCAST).  As  part  of  the  ESMERALDA  and  En-Route 
projects,  MCAST  is  carrying  out  a  case  study  to  test 

36 (add code+hyperlink). 
37 (add code+hyperlink). 
38 Ecosystem services are benefits provided by nature such as food, 
clean water and pollination on which human society depends. 

39 EU project Esmeralda  
40 Natural Capital Coalition, Natural Capital Protocol 
41 Business and Biodiversity, The European Business and Biodiversity 
Campaign aims to promote the business case for biodiversity in the EU 
Member States through workshops, seminars and a cross media 
communication strategy. 

14 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

Invasive alien species 

Under  the  EU  biodiversity  strategy,  the  following  are  to 
be achieved by 2020:  
(i) invasive alien species identified;  
(ii) priority species controlled or eradicated; and  
(iii)  pathways  managed  to  prevent  new  invasive  species 
from disrupting European biodiversity.  
This  is  supported  by  the  Invasive  Alien  Species  (IAS) 
Regulation, which entered into force on 1 January 2015. 

The report on the baseline distribution42, for which Malta 
did provide feedback, shows that from the 37 species on 
the first EU list, none have been observed in Malta. 

Between  the  entry  into  force  of  the  EU  list  and  18 May 
2018,  Malta  has  not  notified  any  new  appearances  of 
invasive  alien  species  of  EU  concern,  according  to 
Article 16(2) of the Invasive Alien Species Regulation. 

Malta has notified the competent authorities responsible 
for implementing the Invasive Alien Species Regulation to 
the  Commission  as  required  by  Article 24(2)  of  that 
Regulation.  Malta  has  also  informed  the  Commission  of 
its  national  provisions  on  penalties  applicable  to 
infringements  as  required  by  Article 30(4)  of  that 
Regulation  and  has  therefore  fulfilled  its  notification 
obligations in this regard. 

Soil protection 

The  EU  soil  thematic  strategy  underlines  the  need  to 
ensure a  sustainable use of soils.  This  entails preventing 
further  soil  degradation  and  preserving  its  functions,  as 
well as restoring degraded soils. The 2011 Roadmap to a 
Resource Efficient Europe states that by 2020, EU policies 
must  take  into  account  their  direct  and  indirect  impact 
on land use. 

Soil  is  a  finite  and  extremely  fragile  resource  and  it  is 
increasingly  degrading  in  the  EU.  The  percentage  of 
artificial  land43  in  Malta  (see  Figure  11)  shows  relative 
the 
pressure  on  nature  and  biodiversity  and 
environmental  pressure  on  people  living  in  urbanised 
areas. A similar measure is population density. 

42 Tsiamis K; Gervasini E; Deriu I; D`amico F; Nunes A; Addamo A; De 
Jesus Cardoso A. Baseline Distribution of Invasive Alien Species of Union 
concern. Ispra (Italy): Publications Office of the European Union; 2017, 
EUR 28596 EN, doi:10.2760/772692. 
43 Artifical land cover is defined as the total of roofed built-up areas 
(including buildings and greenhouses), artificial non built-up areas 
(including sealed area features, such as yards, farmyards, cemeteries, 
car parking areas etc. and linear features, such as streets, roads, 
railways, runways, bridges) and other artificial areas (including bridges 
and viaducts, mobile homes, solar panels, power plants, electrical 
substations, pipelines, water sewage plants, and open dump sites). 

Figure 11: proportion of artificial land cover, 2015 44 

Malta  ranks  far  above  the  EU  average  for  artificial  land 
coverage  with  23.6 %  of  artificial  land  (EU-28  average: 
4.1 %).  The  population  density  is  1 450.2/km2,  which  is 
significantly above the EU average of 11845. 

areas 

and  Gozitan 

The  annual  soil  loss  of  19.3  %  indicates  that  Malta  is  at 
risk  of moderate (10 to 25 tonnes per hectare per year) 
to  severe  (>  75t  per  hectare  per  year)  soil  erosion. 
are 
Maltese  north-western 
characterised  by  a  large  range  in  erosion  rates.  The 
highest estimated erosion rates occur in steeply inclined 
arable  land  where  poor  management  and  conservation 
practices  are  applied.  Land  fragmentation  reduces  the 
economic viability of the land whereby 74 % (9,203 ha) of 
all  agricultural  holdings  cover  less  than  one  hectare,  in 
turn  contributing  to  land  abandonment,  and  reduced 
rubble wall maintenance. The yearly cost incurred by the 
average  agricultural  farmer  to  replace  eroded  soils  and 
artificially  maintain  soil  quality  in  erosion  affected  areas 
amounts  to  1,164.24  EUR/0.01km2/yr,  over  65  %  of  the 

44 Eurostat, Land covered by artificial surfaces by NUTS 2 regions. 
45 Eurostat, Population density by NUTS 3 region. 

15 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

average  yearly  economic  revenue  from  Maltese  utilised 
agricultural area46.  

Contamination  can  severely  reduce  soil  quality  and 
threaten  human  health  or  the  environment.  A  recent 
report  of  the  JRC47  estimated  that  potentially  polluting 
activities  have  taken  or  are  still  taking  place  on 
approximately  2.8  million  sites  in  the  EU.  At  EU  level, 
650 000 of these sites have been registered in national or 
regional  inventories.  65 500  contaminated  sites  already 
have  been  remediated.  Malta  has  registered  135  sites 
where  potentially  polluting  activities  have  taken  or  are 
taking  place,  and  already  has  remediated  or  applied 
aftercare measures on one site.  

Soil erosion by water is a natural process, but this natural 
process can be aggravated by climate change and human 
activities  such  as  inappropriate  agricultural  practices, 
deforestation, forest fires or construction works.  

lakes 

High  levels  of  soil  erosion  can  reduce  productivity  in 
agriculture  and  can  have  negative  and  transboundary 
impacts  on  biodiversity  and  ecosystem  service  and  on 
rivers  and 
(increased  volume  of  sediments, 
transport of contaminants). According to the RUSLE2015 
model48, Malta has an average soil loss rate by water of 
6.02 tonnes per hectare per year (t ha−a yr−y) compared to 
the  EU  mean  of  2.46  t ha−a yr−y  .  This  indicates  that  soil 
erosion in Malta is high on average. These figures are the 
output  of  an  EU  level  model  and  can  therefore  not  be 
considered  as  locally  measured  values.  The  real  rate  of 
soil  loss  can  vary  strongly  within  a  Member  State 
depending on local conditions.  

Soil organic matter plays an important role in the carbon 
cycle and in climate change. Soils are the second largest 
carbon sink in the world after the oceans. 

Marine protection 

EU coastal and marine policy and legislation require that 
by  2020  the  impact  of  pressures  on  marine  waters  be 
reduced  to  achieve  or  maintain  good  environmental 
status (GES) and ensure that coastal zones are managed 
sustainably. 

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)49 aims 
to achieve good environmental status of the EU’s marine 

46 Environment and Resources Authority, State of the Environment 
Report 2018, chapter 4 
47 Ana Paya Perez, Natalia Rodriguez Eugenio (2018), Status of local soil 
contamination in Europe: Revision of the indicator “Progress in the 
management Contaminated Sites in Europe”. 
48 Panagos, P., Borrelli, P., Poesen, J., Ballabio, C., Lugato, E., 
Meusburger, K., Montanarella, L., Alewell, C., The new assessment of 
soil loss by water erosion in Europe, (2015) Environmental Science and 
Policy, 54, pp. 438-447. 
49 European Union, Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC 

waters  by  2020.  To  that  end,  Member  States  must 
develop  a  marine  strategy  for  their  marine  waters,  and 
cooperate  with  the  EU  countries  that  share  the  same 
marine (sub)region. 

These marine strategies require that different steps need 
to  be  developed  and  implemented  over  six-year  cycles. 
The  latest  step  required  Member  States  to  set  up  and 
report  the Commission of their programme of measures 
by  31 March  2016.  The  Commission  assessed  whether 
Malta’s measures were appropriate to reach GES50. 

The  Convention  for  the  Protection  of  the  Marine 
the 
Environment 
Mediterranean  (Barcelona  Convention)  helps  Malta  to 
achieve good environmental status (GES). 

the  Coastal  Region  of 

and 

Malta’s  programme  of  measures  either  fully  or  partially 
addresses  the  most  relevant  pressures  on  its  marine 
environment.  Malta  reports  on  the  existing  measures  it 
has in place based on laws, conventions, action plans and 
commitments.  Malta  also  reported  on  an  analysis  it 
conducted  to  identify  any  gaps  in  the  current  measures 
and to develop new ones where existing measures were 
not  sufficient  to  address  the  pressures  on  its  marine 
waters.  The  new  measures  primarily  aim  to  improve 
knowledge through research and monitoring, but also to 
raise  awareness  and  include  governance  measures.  Few 
new  measures  aim  to  tackle  relevant  pressures  (direct 
effects  on  the  marine  environment).  For  example,  for 
commercial fish and shellfish, measures primarily rely on 
the Common Fisheries Policy and fisheries management, 
while  one  new  measure  improves  data  collection  for 
fisheries and incidental by-catch. 

Some  aspects  of  marine  environment  are  only  partially 
covered by Malta and some activities are only partly and 
indirectly  addressed 
tourism,  recreation, 
(fisheries, 
anchoring of ships and boats). 

Furthermore,  Malta  does  not  always  clearly  state  when 
GES  will  be  achieved.  For  most  descriptors  Malta 
acknowledges that major knowledge gaps exists and that 
it  cannot  estimate  whether  GES  will  be  achieved  due  to 
these gaps. 

Litter  is  a  pressure  on  the  marine  environment  that 
eventually  finds  its  way  to  the  seafloor  and  on  to 
littering 
beaches.  Through  the  amendment  of 
regulations,  Malta  strengthened  the  enforcement  of  its 
provisions  by  stricter  penalties.  Implementation  of  the 
Marine  Strategy  Framework  Directive  has  led  to  an 
improved  understanding  of  macro  and  micro-litter, 
notably  from  plastics.  In  2017,  Malta  joined  the  ‘Clean 
Seas’  campaign  on  marine  litter.  Collaboration  with 
various  non-governmental  organisations  is  being  sought 

its 

50 COM(2018)562. 

16 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

on  a  regular  basis  to  undertake  clean-ups  on  the 
coastline  and  in  coastal  waters.  Public  awareness is also 
being achieved through such initiatives. Malta is the only 
Member State having applied for an exception to achieve 
good  environmental  status  for  litter  by  2020  on  the 
grounds that actions from neighbouring countries would 
allegedly  hamper  its  efforts;  however,  such  proposed 
justification  does  not  appear  to  be  fully  substantiated 
and no alternative timeline is reported51. 

Malta’s coastal and marine environment is important due 
to the rich biodiversity it contains but also because of the 
ecosystem  services  it  provides,  such  as  clean  water  and 
fisheries, to the various coastal users. Fish farming, while 
alleviating the pressures of over-fishing, poses its own set 
of  threats.  In  that  respect,  it  is  imperative  to  put  the 
necessary  and  sufficiently  effective  controls  in  place  to 
ensure, reduce and mitigate any identified pressures and 
threats. 

2019 priority actions 

  Define good environmental status (GES) where it has 

not been done yet. 

  Determine 

to 

the 

achieve 

timelines 

good 
environmental  status,  when  these  have  not  been 
reported. 
Provide more information about measures, establish 
more  measures  that  have  a  direct  impact  on  the 
pressures  and  quantify  the  expected 
level  of 
reduction  of  the  pressure  as  a  result  of  these 
measures, and monitor progress. 
Ensure reporting of the different elements under the 
Marine  Strategy  Framework  Directive  by  the  set 
deadline. 

 

 

51 COM(2018)562, p.12. 

17 

 
 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

3. Ensuring citizens' health and quality of life 

Air quality 

EU clean air  policy and legislation require the significant 
improvement  of  air  quality  in  the  EU,  moving  the  EU 
closer to the quality recommended by the World Health 
Organisation.  Air  pollution  and  its  impacts  on  human 
health,  ecosystems  and  biodiversity  should  be  further 
reduced with the long-term aim of not exceeding critical 
loads  and  levels.  This  requires  strengthening  efforts  to 
reach  full  compliance  with  EU  air  quality  legislation  and 
defining strategic targets and actions beyond 2020. 

The  EU  has  developed  a  comprehensive  body  of  air 
legislation52,  which  establishes  health-based 
quality 
standards and objectives for a number of air pollutants. 

significantly 

Most  of  the  emissions  of  several  air  pollutants  have 
in  Malta53.  The  emission 
decreased 
reductions  between  1990  and  2014  mentioned  in  the 
previous  EIR,  continued  between  2014  and  2016  with 
emissions  of  sulphur  oxides  (SOx)  falling  by  60.16 %, 
emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 26.15 %, emissions 
of  ammonia  (NH3)  by  4.76 %  and  emissions  of  fine 
particulate  matter 
(PM2.5)  by  40.91 %.  However, 
emissions of volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) have 
increased by 4.42 % (see Figure 12 on the total PM2.5 and 
NOx emissions per sector). 
Figure 12: PM2.5 and NOx emissions by sector in Malta54 

to  meet  agreed  emission 

reductions  recorded  in  the  2017  EIR,  additional  efforts 
reduction 
are  needed 
commitments  laid  down  in  the  new  National  Emissions 
Ceilings  Directive55  for  2020-2029  and  from  2030 
onwards.  Focusing  on  2020,  the  greatest  effort  will 
involve  emission  reductions  for  ammonia  (NH3)  where 
Malta  reported  projected  emissions  above  agreed 
commitments56. 

Thereby, air quality in Malta is reported to be good, with 
the  European 
exceptions.  Nevertheless, 
Environment  Agency  estimated  that  more  than  240 
premature deaths were attributable to air pollution57. 

for  2015, 

According to a special report from the European Court of 
Auditors58,  EU  action  to  protect  human  health  from  air 
pollution has not had its expected impact. There is a risk 
that  air  pollution  is  being  underestimated  in  some 
instances because it may not always be monitored in the 
right  places. Member States  are required to report  both 
real-time  and  validated  air  quality  data 
the 
Commission59.  Malta’s  reporting  of  air  quality  data  has 
been at several occasions delayed in the past years. 

to 

Figure  13:  Air  quality  zones  exceeding  EU  air  quality 
standards in 201760  

In  2016,  the  Maltese  Government  adopted  a  National 
Transport Strategy with 2050 horizon and an Operational 
Transport  Master  Plan  to  2025.  Implementation  of  the 

55 Directive 2016/2284/EU 
56 EEA, National Emission Ceilings (NEC) Directive reporting status 2018.  
57 EEA, Air Quality in Europe – 2018 Report, p.64. Please see details in 
this report as regards the underpinning methodology. 
58 European Court of Auditors, Special report no 23/2018: Air pollution: 
Our health still insufficiently protected.  
59 Article 5 of Commission Implementing Decision 2011/850/EU of 
12 December 2011 laying down rules for Directives 2004/107/EC and 
2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards 
the reciprocal exchange of information and reporting on ambient air 
quality (OJ L 335, 17.12.2011, p. 86) requires Member States to provide 
Up-To-Date data. 
60 EEA, EIONET Central Data Repository. Data reflects the reporting 
situation as of 26 November 2018. 

For 2017, Malta reported that they had not exceeded air 
quality  limit  values.  Despite  the  air  pollutants  emission 

52 European Commission, 2016. Air Quality Standards 
53 See EIONET Central Data Repository and Air pollutant emissions data 
viewer (NEC Directive) 
54 2016 NECD data submitted by Member State to the EEA. 

18 

 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

Figure  14:  Number  of  IED  industrial  installations  by 
sector, Malta (2015)63 

above-referred  measures  began  in  February  2017.  The 
Government  has  introduced  a  number  of  measures, 
which  address  public  transport,  collective  transport  and 
environmentally  friendly  transport.  Indeed,  it  is  offering 
for  students,  abolishing  the 
free  public  transport 
registration tax and granting a 5-year exemption from the 
annual  circulation  licence  fee  on  electric  vehicles  and 
those powered by gas, as well as offering a grant for the 
purchase  of  such  vehicles.  It  is  also  implementing  a 
number  of  schemes  aimed  at  encouraging  the  use  of 
bicycles and motor cycles. But, so far, focus seems to be 
in  particular  on  upgrading  the  road  infrastructure  for 
which  the  Maltese  authorities  announced  a  EUR  700 
million project over a period of seven years. 

2019 priority action 

 

Take,  in  the  context  of  the  National  Air  Pollution 
Control  Programme 
towards 
reducing the main emission sources. 

(NAPCP),  actions 

Figure 15: Emissions to air from IED sectors and all other 
national air emissions, Malta (2015) 

Industrial emissions 

The  main objectives of EU policy on industrial emissions 
are to: 
(i) protect air, water and soil; 
(ii) prevent and manage waste; 
(iii) improve energy and resource efficiency; and  
(iv) clean up contaminated sites.  
To  achieve  this,  the  EU  takes  an  integrated  approach  to 
the  prevention  and  control  of  routine  and  accidental 
industrial emissions. The cornerstone of the policy is the 
Industrial Emissions Directive61 (IED). 

The  below  overview  of  industrial  activities  regulated  by 
the  IED  is  based  on  the  ‘industrial  emissions  policy 
country profiles’ project62. 

In Malta, 16 industrial installations are required to have a 
permit based on the IED. Industrial sectors in Malta with 
the  most  IED  installations  in  2015  are  chemical  (44 %), 
waste management (44 %) and energy-power (12.5 %). 

The  energy  power  sector  is  identified  as  the  biggest 
source  of  air  pollutants  emission,  except  Non  Methane 
Volatile  Organic  Compounds  (NMVOCs)  and  Ammonia 
(NH3). The breakdown is shown in the Figure 15. 

The  energy  power  sector  contributes  mostly  for  the 
emissions  to  water  and  for  hazardous  waste  generated. 
The  waste  management  sector  contributes  mostly  to 
non-hazardous waste generation.  

The enforcement approach under the IED creates strong 
rights for citizens to have access to relevant information 
and to participate in the permit process. This empowers 
NGOs and the general public to ensure that permits are 
appropriately granted and their conditions respected. 

Best available techniques (BAT) reference documents and 
BAT conclusions are developed through the exchange of 
information 
industry 
associations,  NGOs  and  the  Commission.  This  ensures  a 
good  collaboration  with  stakeholders  and  a  better 
application of the IED’s rules. 

between  Member 

States, 

61 Directive 2010/75/EU covers industrial activities carried out above 
certain thresholds. It covers energy industry, metal production, mineral 
and chemical industry and waste management, as well as a wide range 
of industrial and agricultural sectors (e.g. intensive rearing of pig and 
poultry, pulp and paper production, painting and cleaning). 
62 European Commission, Industrial emissions policy country profile – 
Malta. 

The  Commission  relies  on  and  welcomes  the  efforts  of 
national  competent  authorities  to  implement  the  legally 

63 European Commission, Industrial emissions policy country profile – 
Malta. 

19 

                                                                 
 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

binding  BAT  conclusions  and  associated  BAT  emission 
levels in environmental permits, resulting in considerable 
and continuous reduction of pollution. 

For  example,  by  applying  the  recently  adopted  BAT 
emission levels for large combustion plants, emissions of 
sulphur dioxide will be  cut  on average by between 25 % 
and 81 %, nitrogen oxide by between 8 % and 56 %, dust 
by  between  31 %  and  78 %  and  mercury  by  between 
19 %  and  71 %  at  EU  level.  The  extent  of  the  reduction 
depends on the situation in individual plants. 

2019 priority actions 

  Review  of  permits  to  ensure  that  they  comply  with 

 

the newly adopted BAT conclusions. 
Strengthen  control  and  enforcement  to  ensure 
compliance with the BAT conclusions. 

Noise 
The  Environmental  Noise  Directive64  provides  for  a 
common  approach  to  avoiding,  preventing  and  reducing 
the harmful effects of exposure to environmental noise. 

Excessive noise from aircraft, railways and roads is one of 
the  main  causes  of  environmental  health-related  issues 
in the EU65. 
Based  on  a  limited  set  of  data66,  environmental  noise 
causes  at  least  around  10  premature  deaths  and  is 
responsible for around 20 hospital admissions per year in 
Malta.  Noise  also  disturbs  the  sleep  of  roughly  12 000 
people  in  Malta.  The  noise  mapping  for  the  previous 
reporting round (reference year 2011) is complete as are 
the  action  plans  (reference  year  2013)  which  include 
measures  to  address  noise  hotspots.  These  instruments, 
adopted after a public consultation had been carried out, 
should include the measures to keep noise low or reduce 
it.  

Water quality and management 

EU  legislation  and  policy  requires  that  the  impact  of 
pressures  on  transitional,  coastal  and  fresh  waters 
(including  surface  and  ground  waters)  be  significantly 
reduced.  Achieving,  maintaining  or  enhancing  a  good 
status  of  water  bodies  as  defined  by  the  Water 
Framework Directive  will  ensure that EU citizens benefit 
from good quality and safe drinking and bathing water. It 
will  further  ensure  that  the  nutrient  cycle  (nitrogen  and 
phosphorus)  is  managed  in  a  more  sustainable  and 
resource-efficient way. 

The  existing  EU  water  legislation67  puts  in  place  a 
protective  framework  to  ensure  high  standards  for  all 
water  bodies  in  the  EU  and  addresses  specific  pollution 
sources  (for  example,  from  agriculture,  urban  areas  and 
industrial  activities).  It  also  requires  that  the  projected 
impacts  of  climate  change  are 
into  the 
corresponding  planning 
flood  risk 
management  plans  and  river  basin  management  plans, 
including  programme  of  measures  which  include  the 
actions  that  Member  States  plan  to  take  in  order  to 
achieve the environmental objectives. 

instruments  e.g. 

integrated 

Water Framework Directive 

Malta  has  adopted  and  reported  the  second  generation 
of  river  basin  management  plans  under  the  water 
framework directive.  

The most  significant pressure on surface water bodies is 
unknown anthropogenic pressure (100% of water bodies) 
followed  by  point  sources  (47%)  and  diffuse  pollution 
(47%).  For  groundwater  bodies  the  most  significant 
pressure  is  agriculture  (100%)  followed  by  alteration  of 
water level or wolume (47%). 

Unknown  anthropogenic  pressure  was 
the  most 
significant impact on rivers, lakes, and transitional water 
bodies  (53%),  where  chemical  pollution  was  the  most 
significant  pressure  for  coastal  waters  (100%)  and 
groundwater (87%).  

All the rivers, lakes and transitional waters have unknown 
ecological  status/potential  due  to  lack  of  knowledge, 
data, and assessment methods. The distribution of status 
classes for classified water bodies illustrated in figure 17 
is therefore only representing coastal waters. 

Monitoring  has  been  established  for  quality  elements  in 
coastal  waters,  and  for  most  of  the  required  quality 

64 Directive 2002/49/EC. 
65 WHO/JRC, 2011, Burden of disease from environmental noise, 
Fritschi, L., Brown, A.L., Kim, R., Schwela, D., Kephalopoulos, S. (eds), 
World Health Organisation, Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, 
Denmark. 
66 European Environment Agency, Noise Fact Sheets 2017. 

67 This includes the Bathing Waters Directive (2006/7/EC), the Urban 
Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) (on discharges of 
municipal and some industrial wastewaters), the Drinking Water 
Directive (98/83/EC) (on potable water quality), the Water Framework 
Directive (2000/60/EC) (on water resources management), the Nitrates 
Directive (91/676/EEC) and the Floods Directive (2007/60/EC). 

20 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

elements  in  rivers,  lakes,  and  transitional  waters,  in 
contrast  to  the  first  River  Basin  Management  Plans, 
where  there  was  no  monitoring  reported.  Not  all 
required 
and 
hydromorphological quality elements are monitored, but 
the 
shows 
considerable progress. 

expanded  monitoring 

programme 

biological 

elements 

quality 

Figure 16: Ecological status or potential of surface water 
bodies in Malta 68 

High 
Good 
Moderate 
Poor  
Bad 
Unknown 
RBDs 

Between  the  first  and  second  River  Basin  Management 
Plans,  there  was  a  very  significant  improvement  in 
knowledge regarding the chemical status. There has been 
a net increase in monitoring for chemical status, both in 
the  number  of  monitoring  sites  and  water  bodies.  The 
chemical  status  for  all  water  bodies  (all  coastal  water 
bodies)  was  unknown 
first  River  Basin 
in 
Management Plans while all water bodies were classified 
in  the  second.  Approximately  half  of  the  water  bodies 
have good chemical status (rivers, lakes and transitional) 
and half are failing to achieve good ecological status (all 
coastal water bodies).  

the 

The  monitoring  situation  regarding  the  quantitative 
status  of  groundwater  is  incomplete  (81%  of  the  total 
groundwater  body  area).  Groundwater  bodies  failing 
good  quantitative  status  decreased  slightly  between  the 

68 Note: Standard colours based on WFD Annex V, Article 1.4.2(i) 
Source: WISE, Eurostat (country borders). 

first  and  second  River  Basin  Management  Plans  (from 
84% to 80%) in terms of total groundwater body area. 

In  Malta,  a  water-scarce  country,  many  economic 
activities,  including  the  touristic  sector,  as  well  as  the 
industry and manufacturing, are heavily dependent on a 
stable  water  supply.  Monitoring  data  presented  in  the 
second  River  Basin  Management  Plan  indicates  that 
by 
groundwater 
overexploitation,  are  progressively  reaching  a  stable 
state,  which  would  suggest  that  the  imbalance  between 
abstraction and recharge is progressively being reduced. 

bodies,  which 

affected 

are 

to  good  status 

Malta  has  taken  some  significant  steps  to  identify  the 
gaps 
for  some  parameters.  The 
Programme of Measures has been developed in order to 
address 
issues 
the  significant  water  management 
identified,  but  no  quantitative  assessment  of  the 
contribution  each  measure  will  make  to  the  closure  of 
the gaps has been carried out.  

Malta  has  reported  a  significant  increase  in  the  funding 
available for the second Programme of Measures, which 
includes  a  substantial  increase  in  the  contribution  from 
EU funds. 

Drinking Water Directive 

On  drinking  water,  no  new  data  are  available  since  the 
last EIR69. 

Figure 17: Bathing water quality 2014 – 2017 

70 

Bathing Water Directive 

Figure  17  shows  that  in  2017,  out  of  the  87  Maltese 
bathing  waters,  86  were  of  excellent  quality  and  1  of 

69 Compliance with the Drinking Water Directive microbiological and 
chemical parameters as last reported was very high. 
70 European Environment Agency, 2018. European bathing water quality 
in 2017, p. 21. 

21 

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Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

good  quality.  There  was  no  bathing  water  classified  as 
sufficient or poor, just like in 201671.  

Detailed  information  on  the  Maltese  bathing  waters  is 
available  from  a  national  portal72  and  via  an  interactive 
map viewer of the European Environment Agency73. 

of  the  implementation  of  measures  and  an  as  complete 
as  possible  estimation  of  the  cost  of  measures.  In 
addition, there is scope for clarifying the method for the 
prioritisation  of  measures,  including  the  assessment  of 
costs and benefits. 

Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive  

Concerning  compliance  with  the  Urban  Waste  Water 
Treatment  Directive,  100 %  of  the  waste  water  load  in 
Malta is connected to a  collecting system. However, the 
load  collected  is  not  treated  in  compliance  with  EU 
requirements  as  regards  the  secondary  treatment 
requirement  and  more  stringent  treatment.  Malta  has 
indicated that the non-compliance is due to an excess of 
farm  manure  discharges  in  collecting  systems  and  to  an 
excess of salt in sewage that could disturb the biological 
leading  to  poor 
process  of  the  treatment  plants, 
performance of the plants where these discharges enter.  

That  is  the  reason  why  the  Commission  has  initiated  an 
infringement procedure to investigate the issue further. 

In  the  previous  EIR,  projects  were  expected  to  be 
completed by 2017-2018, going far beyond the deadline 
set  in  Malta’s  2007  Treaty  of  Accession.  To  date,  the 
investment  needed  to  ensure  adequate 
estimated 
collection 
remaining 
of 
agglomerations is EUR 22 million74.  

treatment 

and 

the 

With  regard  to  water  investments  in  the  2014-2020 
programming  period,  it  is  worth  mentioning  that  water 
monitoring measures are planned in Malta with the aim 
of enabling the provision of sufficient data to significantly 
increase the level of confidence in the status assesments. 

Floods Directive 

The  Floods  Directive  established  a  framework  for  the 
assessment and management of flood risks, aiming at the 
reduction  of  the  adverse  consequences  associated  with 
significant floods. 

Plans 

the  Directive. 

Malta  has  adopted  and  reported  its  first  Flood  Risk 
Management 
The 
under 
Commission’s  assessment  found  that  good  efforts  were 
made  with  positive  results  in  setting  objectives  and 
devising  measures  focusing  on  prevention,  protection 
and  preparedness.  The  assessment  also  showed  that,  as 
was the case for other Member States, Malta’s Flood Risk 
Management  Plans  do  not  yet  include  close  monitoring 

2019 priority actions 

 

 

 

 

 

Continue  to  work  on  completing  the  monitoring 
schemes for quantitative status of groundwater. 
Take  steps  to  better  tackle  the  problem  of  water 
scarcity and over-abstraction. 
Strengthen control and enforcement of measures to 
prevent and reduce nitrate pollution.  
Solve  the  problems  of  excess  of  farm  manure 
discharges in the collecting systems and of seawater 
intrusion in sewage that can affect compliance with 
the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. 
Take  steps 
the 
prioritisation of measures, including the assessment 
of  costs  and  benefits 
in  the  next  Flood  Risk 
Management Plans. 

the  method 

to  clarify 

for 

Chemicals 

The  EU  seeks  to  ensure  that  by  2020  chemicals  are 
produced and used in ways that minimise any significant 
adverse  effects  on  human  health  and  the  environment. 
An  EU  strategy  for  a  non-toxic  environment  that  is 
conducive  to  innovation  and  to  developing  sustainable 
substitutes,  including  non-chemical  options,  is  being 
prepared. 

legislation75  provides  baseline 
The  EU’s  chemicals 
protection for human health and the environment. It also 
ensures  stability  and  predictability 
for  businesses 
operating within the internal market. 

The  2016  European  Chemicals  Agency  (ECHA)  report  on 
the  operation  of  REACH  and  CLP76  showed  that 
enforcement activities are still evolving. In the Forum for 
Exchange  of  Information  on  Enforcement,  coordinated 
enforcement 
the 
effectiveness  of  the  enforcement  activities  can  still  be 
improved, in particular regarding registration obligations 
and  Safety  Data  Sheets  where  a  relatively  high  level  of 
non-compliance has been found.  

projects77 

shown 

have 

that 

71 European Environment Agency, 2018. European Bathing Water 
Quality in 2017, p. 21. 
72 Ministry of Health, Bathing Water Programme.  
73 EEA, State of bathing waters. 
74 European Commission, Ninth Report on the Implementation Status 
and the Programmes for Implementation of the Urban Waste Water 
Treatment Directive (COM(2017) 749) and Commission Staff Working 
Document accompanying the report (SWD(2017)445). 

75 Principally for chemicals: REACH (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p.1.); for 
Classification, Labelling and Packaging, the CLP Regulation (: OJ L 252, 
31.12.2006, p.1.), together with legislation on biocidal products and 
plant protection products. 
76 European Chemicals Agency, Report on the Operation of REACH and 
CLP 2016. 
77 ECHA, On the basis of the projects REF-1, REF-2 and REF-3. 

22 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

as 

national 

activities 

enforcement 

Whilst improving, there is room for further improvement 
of 
regards 
harmonisation  throughout  the  Union,  including  controls 
on  imported  goods.  It  is  also  clear  that  enforcement  is 
still  weak  in  some  Member  States  in  particular  with 
respect 
imports  and  supply  chain 
obligations. The architecture of enforcement capabilities 
continues  to  be  complex  in  most  EU  countries.  The 
enforcement  projects  also  revealed  some  differences 
among Member States (e.g. some tend to systematically 
report higher compliance than the EU average and others 
lower). 

to  control  of 

A  2015  Commission  study  highlighted  already  the 
importance  of  harmonisation  in  the  implementation  of 
REACH  at  Member  State  level,  in  terms  of  market 
surveillance and enforcement, as a critical success factor 
in the operation of a harmonised single market78. 

In March 2018, the Commission published an evaluation 
of  REACH79.  The  evaluation  concludes  that  REACH 
delivers  on  its  objectives,  but  that  progress  made  is 
slower  than  anticipated.  In  addition,  the  registration 
dossiers often are incomplete. The evaluation underlines 
the need to enhance enforcement by all actors, including 
registrants,  downstream  users  and 
in  particular  for 
importers,  to  ensure  a  level  playing  field,  meet  the 
objectives  of  REACH  and  ensure  consistency  with  the 
actions envisaged to improve environmental compliance 
and  governance.  Consistent  reporting  of  Member  State 
enforcement activities  was considered  important  in that 
respect. 

Making cities more sustainable 

EU policy on the urban environment encourages cities to 
put  policies  in  place  for  sustainable  urban  planning  and 
design.  These  should  include  innovative  approaches  to 
sustainable 
urban  public 
buildings,  energy  efficiency  and  urban  biodiversity 
conservation. 

transport  and  mobility, 

Europe  can  be  seen  as  a  union  of  cities  and  towns. 
Around  75 %  of  the  EU  population  live  in  urban  areas80 
and  this  figure  is  projected  to  rise  to  just  over  80%  by 
205081.  Urban  areas  pose  particular  challenges  for  the 
environment  and  human  health,  but  they  also  provide 
opportunities  for  using  resources  more  efficiently.  The 
EU encourages municipalities to become greener through 

initiatives  such  as  the  Green  Capital  Award82,  the  Green 
Leaf Award83 and the Green City Tool84. 

Financing greener cities 

The  2014-2020  period  has  put  the  urban  dimension  at 
the  very  heart  of  Cohesion  Policy.  In  Malta,  sustainable 
urban development is being allocated 5.2 % of European 
Research  and  Development  Funding  and  may  be 
supported  through  the  European  Structural  Funds85. 
Harbour  areas  are  the  urban  areas  that  will  benefit  the 
most  from this integrated approach due to the high  risk 
of  poverty,  high  unemployment  rate  including  youth 
unemployment, high level of absenteeism from school, a 
high  number  of  rundown  buildings 
including  social 
housing  and  its  economic  potential  due  to  the  high 
concentration of historical and cultural buildings. Malta is 
currently 
urban 
development strategy for the harbour area: regenerating 
lower Valletta. 

implementing 

sustainable 

its 

Participation in EU urban initiatives and networks 

Living 

Cities, 

Liveable 

conference 

themes  of  urban  development, 

Under Valletta 2018 — European Capital of Culture 2018, 
the 
Spaces: 
Placemaking  &  Identity  took  place  in  2017  focusing  on 
the 
community 
engagement  and  well-being,  as  well  as  cultural 
diplomacy.  The  conference  consisted  of  a  series  of 
parallel sessions on various themes, including the future 
developments  of  cities  and  urban  spaces.  The  Cittadella 
Gozo project is among the finalists in the 2018 edition of 
the RegioStars Awards. These awards recognise the most 
original, 
innovative  and  pioneering  regional  projects 
funded by the EU. 

In terms of research and innovation for cities, as part of 
the  pan-European  event  called  Researchers’  Night, 
Malta’s  Science  &  Arts  Festival  took  place  in  2018.  The 
focus  of  the  event  was  on  plastic  and  the  aim  was  to 
increase awareness about the effects of plastic waste on 
the planet through an interactive exhibition. The EU FP7 
programme and the Malta Arts Fund support the Science 
in the City festival. 

Maltese cities are also actively involved in initiatives such 
as  the  EU  Covenant  of  Mayors.  As  of  June  2018,  24 
Maltese cities were signed up to it. 

78 European Commission. (2015). Monitoring the Impacts of REACH on 
Innovation, Competitiveness and SMEs. Brussels: European 
Commission. 
79 COM (2018) 116. 
80 Eurostat (2016), Urban Europe 
81 European Commission, Eurostat, Urban Europe, 2016, p.9. 

82 European Commission, European Green Capital.  
83 European Commission, European Green Leaf Award  
84 European Commission, Green City Tool. 
85 In line with Article 98 (2) of the Council Regulation (EU) No 
1303/2013, Government has decided to avail of the possibility to 
finance ESF complimentary actions subject to the limit of 10 per cent of 
European funds for Sustainable Urban Development. 

23 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

Figure 18: People in Maltese cities reporting they live in 
an  area  affected  by  pollution,  grime  or  other 
environmental problems 86 

By  2020,  through  its  National  Biodiversity  Strategy  and 
Action  Plan,  Malta  committed  to  safeguard  urban 
biodiversity  in  villages  and  towns  through  the  uptake  of 
community  initiatives.  These  initiatives  include,  among 
others,  green  rooftops,  green  open  spaces,  and  other 
incentives, such as competitions for the best gardens and 
open  spaces  in  urban  areas,  which  promote  the  use  of 
indigenous  species  (as  opposed  to  invasive  non-native 
plants) so as to increase green urban areas. 

Urban sprawl 

initiatives  and  networks  should  be 
These  urban 
welcomed and encouraged, as they contribute to a better 
urban  environment.  In  2017,  27.8 %  of  city  residents 
considered  their  residential  area  to  be  affected  by 
pollution  or  other  environmental  problems,  down  from 
31.7 %  in  2016  and  34.1 %  in  2015.  These  figures  are 
higher  than  the  EU  28  levels  (20 %  in  2017,  18.9 %  in 
2016 and 19.2 % in 2015)87. 

Nature and cities 

With an area of just 316 km², Malta is one of the smallest 
countries  in  the  world.  Yet  it  is  also  one  of  the  most 
densely populated. All areas constitute a continuum from 
urban to rural. Around 70 % of the Natura 2000 network 
in  Malta  is  to  be  found  within  functional  urban  areas88. 
This is far above the EU average of 15 %89. 

Figure  19:  Proportion  of  Natura  2000  network 
Functional Urban Areas (FUA) 90 

in 

and 

2009 

The urban sprawl in Malta is one of the highest in Europe 
with  the  largest  absolute  increases  observed  between 
(+ 1.44  UPU/m2 91),  making 
2006 
overdevelopment  a  pressing  environmental  issue  that 
has  been  a  consistent  cause  of  loss  of  biodiversity, 
natural  landscapes,  and  agricultural  land.  Given  Malta’s 
limited  land  area  and  its  high  population  density,  it  is 
important  to 
limit  the  environmental  footprint  of 
infrastructure  developments  and  to  avoid  duplication 
whenever  possible.  Factoring 
in  the  ever-increasing 
number  of  tourists  visiting  the  islands  annually  (2.3 
million  in  201792),  the  country’s  resources  are  steadily 
becoming strained. 

In  recent  years,  the  property  market  has  boomed 
significantly,  so  the  demand  for  used  and  virgin  land  is 
also increasing. 

Another example of concern is the current  Maltese Fuel 
Stations policy. Fuel stations  range in size from 1 500 to 
5 000  square  metres  each  and  come  with  ancillary 
facilities such as auto shops and cafés, deemed necessary 
to  make 
the  projects  economically  viable.  The 
concentration of these service stations in close proximity 
to each other may negatively impact the environment. 

86 Eurostat, Urban Europe — statistics on cities, towns and suburbs — 
green cities, 2019. 
87 European Commission, Eurostat, Pollution, grime or other 
environmental problems by degree of urbanisation. 
88 Eurostat, Definition of Functional Urban Areas. 
89 European Commission, 2017, the 7th Report on Economic, Social and 
Territorial Cohesion. 
90 European Commission, the 7th Report on Economic, Social and 
Territorial Cohesion, 2017, p. 121. 

Traffic congestion and urban mobility 

91 Urban Permeation Units measure the size of the built-up area as well 
as its degree of dispersion throughout the region. 
92 Malta Tourism Authority, Research & Statistics. 

24 

 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

Malta’s  size  and  its  relatively  high  urban  density  pose 
major challenges for the country’s transport sector. 

Socioeconomic  developments,  including  an  increase  in 
household disposable income, status associated with car 
ownership,  dispersed  land  use  developments  and  a 
public transport service that does not reflect the current 
travel demands have resulted in the rise in car ownership 
in  Malta.  Overall,  the  net  result  is  one  of  high  fuel 
consumption where there is potential for energy savings. 

A  key  measure  to  improve  transport  efficiency  taken  by 
the  Maltese  authorities  is  to  reform  public  transport 
services. An objective of this reform is to achieve a modal 
shift from private cars to public transport. 

The  reforms  to  upgrade  the  private  and  commercial 
vehicle  fleet  continue.  A  target  of  5  000  battery  electric 
vehicles  has  been  set  for  2020.  Hybrid  vehicles  will  also 
be  encouraged  by  reducing  the  registration  tax  for  such 
vehicles.  Excise  duty  has  also  been  increased  to  further 
discourage the use of conventional fuels. 

25 

Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

Part II: Enabling framework: implementation tools 

4. Green taxation, green public procurement, environmental 

funding and investments 

Green  taxation  and  environmentally  harmful 
subsidies 

incentives, 

Financial 
taxation  and  other  economic 
instruments  are  effective  and  efficient  ways  to  meet 
environmental  policy  objectives.  The  circular  economy 
action  plan  encourages  their  use.  Environmentally 
harmful  subsidies  are  monitored  in  the  context  of  the 
European  Semester  and  the  energy  union  governance 
process. 

Malta’s revenue from environment-related taxes remains 
higher  than  the  EU  average.  Environmental  taxes 
accounted  for  2.68 %  of  GDP  in  2017  (EU-28  average: 
2.4 %) (see Figure 19) and energy taxes for 1.36 % of GDP 
against  an  EU  average  of  1.84 %93.  In  the  same  year, 
environmental  tax  revenues  were  8.16 %  of  total 
revenues  from  taxes  and  social  security  contributions 
(considerably higher than the EU-28 average of 5.97 %). 

The structure of taxation shows a share of revenues from 
labour tax in total tax revenues far below the EU average, 
with  34.4 %  in  2016,  while  the  implicit  tax  burden  on 
labour  was  23.8 %94.  Consumption  taxes  remained 
relatively  high  (36.9 %,  11th  in  the  EU-28),  pointing  to  a 
labour  to 
limited  potential  for  shifting  taxes  from 
consumption and in particular to environmental ones.  

However,  there  are  some  cases  showing  the  putting  in 
place  of  sound  fiscal  measures  for  the  environment.  A 
good  example  is  water  pricing  in  Malta,  used  for  water 
supply fees for domestic,  residential and non-residential 
water  use.  Self-abstraction  of  groundwater  however  is 
not subject to water supply tariffs95. 

Little  information  is  available  on  fossil  fuel  subsidies. 
Some  subsidies  for  petrol  and  diesel  remain  in  place. 
Post-tax  subsidies  (which  include  not  only  price-gap 
subsidies  but  also  the  negative  externalities  associated 
with  the  use  of  fossil  fuels,  such  as  local  air  pollution, 
faster  climate  change  and  congestion)  added  up  to  EUR 
10 million in 2015 96. 

Figure  20:  Environmental  tax  revenues  as  a  %  of  GDP 
(2017)97 

Some  progress  has  been  made  on  reducing  the  ‘diesel 
differential’  (difference  in  the  price  of  diesel  versus 
petrol)  since  2005.  In  2016  there  was  still  a  16 %  gap 
between petrol and diesel tax rates, while in 2005 it was 
26 %98.  Excise  tax  rates  for  petrol  and  diesel  in  2016 
increased compared to 2015 rates (EUR 0.55 per litre for 
petrol  and  EUR 0.47  for  diesel),  although  the  rise  was 
higher for diesel than for petrol99. 

CO2-based motor vehicle taxes are in place. The Maltese 
vehicle  registration  tax  system  has  built-in  features  that 
lowers  the  tax  rate  for  electric  vehicles  with  low  CO2 
emissions, besides the incentives to encourage the use of 
vehicles  using  alternative  fuels  such  as  LPG.  The 

93 Eurostat, Environmental tax revenues, 2018. 
94 European Commission, Taxation Trends Report, 2017. 
95 Institute for European Environmental Policy, Case Studies on 
Environmental Fiscal Reform, Water pricing in Malta. 
96 European Parliament and IMF, Fossil Fuel Subsidies, 2017, pp. 10-11. 

97 Eurostat, Environmental tax revenues, 2019. 
98 European Environment Agency 2017, Environmental taxation and EU 
environmental policies, p. 27. 
99 European Commission, Taxes in Europe Database, 2018. 

26 

 
 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

registration  tax  is  calculated  using  emissions,  while  the 
annual  circulation  tax  is  based  on  emissions  and  the 
vehicle’s age100. Incentives to encourage buying cars with 
lower  CO2  emissions  were  common  in  2016,  linked  to 
annual circulation taxes, road tolls, and congestion or low 
emission  zone  charges;  but  also  to  the  acquisition  of 
cleaner  vehicles.  There  are  no  incentives  connected  to 
the  preferential  use  of  public  transport101.  New  vehicles 
bought  in  Malta  are  among  the  most  environmentally-
friendly  in  the  EU,  with  average  CO2  emissions  of  111.8 
grams per kilometre, below the EU average of 118 grams 
in 2016102. 

The  use  of  alternative  fuels  in  new  cars  sold  in  Malta  is 
emerging over the past few years. The share of new cars 
using  alternative  fuels  was  still  low  in  2016  (0.13 %)103. 
Most  of these  cars are electric vehicles, with little or no 
implementation  of  the  CNG  or  compressed  natural  gas 
vehicles  in  the  country.  Tax  for  company  cars  is  a  cause 
for  concern  in  Malta104.  No  new  fiscal  measures  have 
been introduced for these types of cars in 2018105. 

Green public procurement 

The  EU  green  public  procurement  policies  encourage 
Member  States  to  take  further  steps  to  apply  green 
procurement  criteria  to  at  least  50 %  of  public  tenders. 
The European Commission is helping to increase the use 
of  public  procurement  as  a  strategic  tool  to  support 
environmental protection. 

The purchasing power of public procurement amounts to 
around  EUR 1.8  trillion  in  the  EU  (approximately  14%  of 
GDP).  A  substantial  proportion  of  this  money  goes  to 
impact  such  as 
sectors  with  a  high  environmental 
construction  or  transport.  Therefore,  green  public 
procurement  (GPP)  can  help  to  significantly  lower  the 
negative  impact  of  public  spending  on  the  environment 
and  can  help  support  sustainable  innovative  businesses. 
The Commission has proposed EU GPP criteria106. 

100 ACEA, CO2 based motor vehicle taxes in Europe. 
101 European Environmental Agency, Appropriate taxes and incentives 
do affect purchases of new cars, 18 May 2018. 
102 European Environment Agency, Average CO2 emissions from new 
passenger cars sold in EU-28 Member States plus Norway, Iceland and 
Switzerland in 2016. 
103 European Commission, Transport in the European Union Current 
Trends and Issues, 2018, p. 94. 
104 European Commission, Taxation of commercial cars in Belgium, 
2017, p. 3. 
105 FleetEurope, Major changes to company car taxation in Europe. 
106 In the Communication ‘Public procurement for a better 
environment’ (COM (2008) 400) the Commission recommended the 
creation of a process for setting common GPP criteria. The basic 
concept of GPP relies on having clear, verifiable, justifiable and 
ambitious environmental criteria for products and services, based on a 
life-cycle approach and scientific evidence base. 

Specific  targets  for  2012-2014  (10 %,  20 %  and  30 % 
respectively) were only partially met (in 60 % of cases in 
2012,  100 %  in  2013  and  70 %  in  2014)  and  there  is  no 
official  data  from  the  national  authorities  from  2015 
onwards. 

Malta’s first national action plan was adopted in 2011. In 
2015, a review of the plan was undertaken to assess how 
it  was  being  put  into  practice,  which  led  to  the  second 
plan  which  is  not  yet  finalised.  Despite  the  plan  action 
plan  has  not  yet  been  revised,  guidelines  are  published 
online. 

Malta  has  national  green  public  procurement  guidelines 
107 on the following products: 

  Mandatory  green  public  procurement:  gardening 
products  and  services;  copying  and  graphic  paper; 
textiles;  office  IT  equipment;  and  cleaning  products 
and services. 

  Non-mandatory 

green 

public 

procurement: 
transport;  furniture;  food  and  catering  services; 
combined heat and power; street lighting and traffic 
signals;  road  construction  and  traffic  signs;  mobile 
phones;  electricity;  and  construction  works  and 
other related products and services. 

The  guidelines  consist  of  one  document  of  between  4 
and  14  pages  per  product  group,  including  the  national 
green  public  procurement  target,  the  date  of  the  most 
and 
recent 
specifications/criteria  and  how  to  apply  them.  The 
MSDEC website includes a form to sign up for updates on 
green public procurement108. 

revisions, 

products 

covered 

In Malta an administrative procedure is in place whereby 
all  contracting  authorities  are  required  to  complete  a 
green  public  procurement  checklist  before  publishing  a 
call for tender. 

Training  for  both  procurers  and  business  entities  were 
provided to supplement the first NAP and is expected to 
remain  a  significant  feature  of  the  second  NAP.  The 
Institute  for  Public  Services  offers  an  ‘Introduction  to 
green  public  procurement’  course109.  The  course110  lasts 
for  five  hours  and  is  targeted  at  senior  and  middle 
managers,  to  introduce  them  to:  the  concept  of  green 
public  procurement;  EU  background;  national  policy; 

107 Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate 
Change, GPP Criteria. 
108 Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate 
Change, GPP updates.  
109, Institute for Public Services, Introduction to Green Public 
Procurement. 
110 The Institute for Public Services website, when checked on 
8 September 2018, did not have any confirmed future dates for the 
course, but did include an application form and contact details for 
queries. 

27 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

national  achievements;  the  roles  of  different  actors; 
monitoring  and  reporting;  green  public  procurement  in 
practice; and practical advice on how to green tenders.  

Environmental funding and investments 

European  Structural  and  Investment  Fund  (ESIF)  rules 
oblige  Member  States  to  promote  environment  and 
climate  in  their  funding  strategies  and  programmes  for 
rural 
economic, 
development and maritime policy. 

social  and 

territorial 

cohesion, 

legality  of 

the  quality  and 

implemented.  They  effectively  addressed  delays  and 
shortcomings  in  transposition  of  the  EU  acquis,  thereby 
improving 
relevant 
investments. According to a  2017 European Commission 
study116,  the  water  sector  ex-ante  conditionality  "has 
been  a  driver  for  many  Member  States  to  implement 
improvements in areas such as pricing policies […]’. More 
specifically,  it  has  triggered  amendments  of  the  water 
pricing  policies  to  the  agricultural  sector  in  Malta  that 
should  provide 
incentives  to  farmers  to  use  water 
resources more efficiently. 

Achieving  sustainability  involves  mobilising  public  and 
private  financing  sources111.  Use  of  the  European 
Structural  and  Investment  Funds  (ESIFs)112  is  essential  if 
countries  are  to  achieve  their  environmental  goals  and 
integrate 
into  other  policy  areas.  Other 
instruments such as Horizon 2020, the LIFE programme113 
and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)114 
may also support the implementation and spread of good 
practices. 

these 

According  to  the  2017  Special  Eurobarometer  468  on 
attitudes of EU citizens towards the environment, 94 % of 
Maltese support greater EU investment in environmental 
protection (EU-28 average being 85 %). 

European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020 

For  the  current  programming  period  (2014-2020)  Malta 
has been allocated up to EUR 828 million. This represents 
around  1 %  of  GDP  annually  for  2014-18  and  28 %  of 
public investment115.  

Cohesion Policy 

implemented  all 
At  the  end  of  2016,  Malta  had 
environmental  ex-ante  conditionalities 
to 
(subject 
pending  clarifications  on  consistency  of  water  pricing  in 
the rural sector with the EU Water Framework Directive) 
which  form  part  of  the  reforms  package  and  policy 
framework  to  be  set  in  place  for  unlocking  EU  funds  in 
2014-2020.  

The  ex-ante  conditionalities  have  been  a  powerful 
incentive  for  Member  States  and  regions  to  carry  out 
reforms that would have otherwise been delayed or not 

111 See, for example, Action plan on financing sustainable growth 
(COM(2018) 97).  
112 .e. the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion 
Fund (CF), the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Agricultural 
Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Maritime and 
Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The ERDF, the CF and the ESF are referred to as 
the ‘cohesion policy funds’. 
113 European Commission, LIFE programme. 
114 European Investment Bank, European Fund for Strategic 
Investments, 2016. 
115 Public investment is defined as gross fixed capital formation + 
investment grants + national expenditure on agriculture and fisheries. 

Figure  21:  ESIF  2014-2020  –  EU  allocation  by  theme, 
Malta (EUR billion)117 

In  2014-2020,  Malta  manages 
three  operational 
programmes under the EU Cohesion Policy: one receives 
funding  from  the  European  Regional  Development  Fund 
(ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund, one receives funding from 
the ERDF within the framework of the SME initiative and 
one  receives  funding  from  the  European  Social  Fund 
(ESF). 

For  the  period  2014-2020,  Malta  has  been  allocated 
around 729 million EUR (current prices) in total Cohesion 
Policy  funding:  490.2  million  EUR  from  the  ERDF  for 
transition  regions  (the  entire  country  is  classified  as  a 
transition  region);  217.7  million  EUR  through  the 
Cohesion  Fund;  17  million  for  European  Territorial 

116 European Commission (2017), The Value Added of Ex ante 
Conditionalities in the European Structural and Investment Funds, 
SWD(2017) 127 final. 
117 European Commission, European Structural and Investment Funds 
Data By Country. 

28 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

Cooperation.  Of  this,  the  ESF  accounts  for  21.6%  of  the 
allocation, for a total amount of 105.9 million EUR. 

agreements  for  EUR  45  million  for  projects  under  the 
Connecting Europe Facility118. 

In  terms  of  progress  in  the  implementation  of  the 
projects, one project can be highlighted: a national water 
campaign  selected  in  November  2017  for  a  total  value 
EUR  21.2  million.  The  project  aims  at  optimising  the 
water  resources  management  in  the  Maltese  islands, 
increasing  the  awareness  on  the  vulnerability  of  water 
resources in the Maltese islands, and identify the optimal 
tools on how these resources. 

Rural development 

The  total  2014-2020  Rural  Development  Programme 
(RDP)  budget  for  Malta  amounts  to  almost  EUR  130 
million, which marks a significant increase of around EUR 
30  million  compared  with  the  2007-2013  budget.  The 
RDP support  is co-financed by the European Agricultural 
Fund for Rural Development  (EAFRD),  which  covers 75% 
of the total budget, and the Maltese Government, which 
covers the remaining amount. 

Rural areas account  for 91% of the island's territory and 
are  home  to  64%  of  the  total  population.  There  are  no 
lakes,  rivers  or  mountains  and  all  areas  constitute  a 
continuum  from  urban  to  rural.  Maltese  agriculture  is 
characterised  by  small  fragmented  holdings  and  by  low 
and irregular rainfall. 

Water  supply  and  diffuse  water  pollution 
from 
agriculture  are  critical  issues  for  Malta,  both  currently 
and  for  the  future,  particularly 
in  the  context  of 
anticipated  climate  change  and  demographic  pressures 
and  challenges.  The  state  of  Malta’s  water  resources  is 
among the most stressed in the world.  

Malta's  RDP  is  putting  particular  emphasis  on  actions 
restoring,  preserving  and  enhancing 
related 
to 
ecosystems, 
resource  efficiency  and  climate  and 
improving  the  competitiveness  of  the  farm  and  forestry 
sectors. It focuses notably on environment-friendly farm 
investments  and  management  procedures,  with  a 
particular emphasis on quality of water.  

European Maritime and Fisheries Fund 

Malta  benefits  from  EUR  23  million  under  the  European 
Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). 

The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) 

The  CEF  is  a  key  EU  funding  instrument  developed 
specifically  to  direct 
investment  towards  European 
transport,  energy  and  digital  infrastructure  to  address 
identified  missing  links  and  bottlenecks  and  promote 
sustainability.  By  the  end  of  2017,  Malta  has  signed 

Horizon 2020 

As  part  of  the  Europe  2020  strategy,  which  places 
research  and 
innovation  (R&I)  at  the  forefront  of 
Europe’s  efforts  to  become  a  smart,  sustainable  and 
inclusive  economy  with  high 
levels  of  employment, 
productivity  and  social  cohesion,  Malta  has  allocated 
funds  to  both  R&I 
infrastructure  and  measures  to 
strengthen  the  links  between  academia  and  industry. 
During  the  current  programming  period,  this  trend  has 
investments  will 
been  maintained  and  prospective 
continue  to  focus  on  R&I  facilities  and  access  to  finance 
for enterprises.  

Malta has benefited from Horizon 2020 funding since the 
programme  started  in  2014.  As  of  January  2019,  43 
participants  have  been  granted  a  maximum  amount  of 
EUR 7.4 million for projects from the Societal Challenges 
work 
environmental 
issues119 120.  

dealing  with 

programmes 

In  addition  to  the  abovementioned  work  programmes, 
climate and biodiversity expenditure is present across the 
entire  Horizon  2020.  In  Malta,  projects  accepted  for 
funding  in  all  Horizon  2020  working  programmes  until 
December  2018  included  EUR  6  million  destined  to 
climate  action  (28.8 %  of  the  total  Horizon  2020 
contribution  to  the  country)  and  EUR  2  million  for 
biodiversity-related  actions  (9.5 %  of  the  Horizon  2020 
contribution to the country)121. 

Malta committed to achieve an ambitious level of 2 % of 
GDP spending on R&I by 2020. While Public R&D intensity 
rose  from  19%  in  2009  to  21%  in  2017,  business  R&D 
spending is now in decline (40% in 2013 to 2015, 39% in 
2016 and 34% in 2017). As a result, Malta is not on track 
to reach its national R&D intensity target. 

Malta  was  recommended  to  promote  collaboration  and 
knowledge-sharing  between  science  and  business  to 
strengthen innovation and to improve the conditions for 
doing  business.  Energy  efficiency,  sustaining  the  natural 
water  supply,  transport  and  mobility  are  examples  of 

118 European Commission, European Semester country report for Malta 
2018, p. 15. 
119 European Commission own calculations based on CORDA (COmmon 
Research DAta Warehouse). A maximum grant amount is the maximum 
grant amount decided by the Commission. It normally corresponds to 
the requested grant, but it may be lower. 
120 i.e. (ii) Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine 
and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy; (iii) 
Secure, clean and efficient energy; (iv) Smart, green and integrated 
transport; and (v) Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and 
raw materials. 
121 European Commission own calculations based on CORDA (COmmon 
Research DAta Warehouse). 

29 

                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

environment-related  challenges  Malta  could  address 
through  smart  management  technologies.  This  was 
achieved  through  the  following  EU-funded  projects:  the 
twinning project  FOWARIM,  a  research-capacity building 
project  that  aims  at  optimising  the  use  of  water  for 
agriculture,  by  experts  from  across  Europe  sharing 
innovative  approaches  to  water  management  with 
scientists  and  farmers  to  help  conserve  this  scarce 
that  explores 
the  MARIBE  project 
resource;  and 
innovative  ways  to  boost  the  offshore  economy  in  the 
Atlantic,  Baltic,  North  Sea  and  Caribbean  basins  by 
identifying  sectors  where  shared  activities  could  offer 
economic  and  environmental  benefits,  and  proposed 
match-ups  for  projects  further  offshore  and  the  Big  Hit 
project through which researchers are looking at how to 
overcome  grid  constraints 
renewable  energy 
provision  and  how  to  transfer  the  solutions  to  other 
regions. 

for 

LIFE programme 

Since the launch of the LIFE programme in 1992, total of 
21 projects have been co-financed in Malta.  

Figure 22: EIB loans to Malta in 2017 125 

European Fund for Strategic Investments 

One  of  Europe’s  flagship  projects  to  address  the  low 
levels  of  investments  following  the  financial  crisis  is  the 
European  Fund  for  Strategic  Investments  (EFSI).  The 
success  of  EFSI  and  the  need  for  further  investment  in 
Europe has prompted EU legislators to extend EFSI up to 
31st  December  2020  raising  the  investment  target  to 
EUR 500 billion.  

To  date,  2  projects  are  funded  in  Malta  under  the  LIFE 
programme  2014-2020122,  both  of  which  relate  to 
“Conservation  &  biodiversity”.  They  both  fall  under  the 
“Environment”  topic.  The  total  budget  of  the  two 
projects is around EUR 6.4 million, of which EUR 747 930 
has been allocated by the EU as of 2018123. 

Malta  currently  ranks  28th  in  terms  of  EFSI-related 
investment  triggered,  relative  to  GDP.  As  of  January 
2019, total financing under the EFSI in Malta amounts to 
EUR  11  million  and  is  set  to  trigger  EUR  34  million  in 
additional investments. Malta could benefit from the EFSI 
to invest more in environmental protection. 

National Environmental Funding 

spent  EUR 101  million  on  environmental 
Malta 
protection 
in  2016.  60 %  of  these  payments  were 
allocated to waste management activities (the average in 
the  EU  is  49.7 %).  EUR 22.2  million  were  allocated  to 
waste  water  management  (22%  of  total)  and  EUR  0.8 
million  to  pollution  abatement  (0.8%  of  total).  18.2%  of 
environmental  expenditure  was  allocated  to  protection 
of biodiversity and landscape (EUR 18.4 million). Between 
2012  and  2016,  the  general  government  funding  for 
environmental protection added up to EUR 620 million. 

One  of  these  projects  taking  place  in  Malta  is  the  LIFE 
Arċipelagu Garnija, aiming at securing the Maltese islands 
for the Yelkouan Shearwater Puffinus yelkouan124.  

European Investment Bank 

In  2017,  the  EIB  Group  (the  European  Investment  Bank 
and  the  European  Investment  Fund)  invested  EUR 30 
million in the Maltese economy. 

The SME initiative, a  joint  financial instrument  of the EC 
and  the  EIB  Group  (the  European  Investment  Bank  and 
European Investment Fund) which aims to stimulate SME 
financing  by  providing  partial  risk  cover  for  SME  loan 
portfolios  of  originating  financial  institutions,  is  under 
way in Malta. Malta’s contribution as part of its European 
Structural  and  Investment  Funds  amounts  to  EUR 15 
million and is expected, together with the resources from 
the  other  contributors,  to  generate  more  than  EUR 60 
million of new SME financing over the next few years. 

122 EASME,  LIFE programme 2014-2020 data hub. 
123 Commission services based on data provided by EASME. 
124 European Commission, LIFE Arcipelagy Garnija. 

125 European Investment Bank, The European Investment Bank in Malta, 
2017. 

30 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

5. Strengthening environmental governance 

Information, public participation and access to 
justice 

Citizens  can  more  effectively  protect  the  environment  if 
they  can  rely  on  the  three  ‘pillars’  of  the  Aarhus 
Convention:  
(i) access to information;  
(ii) public participation in decision making; and  
(iii) access to justice in environmental matters.  

It is of crucial importance to public authorities, the public 
and  business  that  environmental  information  is  shared 
efficiently  and  effectively126.  Public  participation  allows 
authorities  to  make  decisions  that  take  public  concerns 
into account. Access to justice is a set of guarantees that 
allows  citizens  and  NGOs  to  use  national  courts  to 
protect the environment127. It includes the right to bring 
legal challenges (‘legal standing’)128. 

Environmental information 

The governance of environmental information for all the 
datasets  for  Malta  is  centralised  and  published  by  MITA 
(Malta  Information  and  Technology  Agency)129.  Malta 
Spatial  Data  Infrastructure  shares  environment-related 
geospatial  datasets  for  the  country.  There  is  also  the 
Planning Authority130 that creates and sends base spatial 
data  sets  and  plays  a  significant  role  in  handling  and 
publishing  mostly  non-environmental  data.  On  the 
content,  the  user  can  easily  find  State  of  Environment 
Reports in the main portal and mostly all the information 
needed  for  the  main  policy  areas.  Usability  is  adequate 
and facilities are provided to the user to ease the search 
function,  portals  are  multilingual  and 
the  whole 
impression for the main investigated sites is satisfactory. 

Malta’s  performance  on 
INSPIRE 
Directive is good. Performance has been reviewed based 

implementing  the 

126 The Aarhus Convention, the Access to Environmental Information 
Directive 2003/4/EC and the INSPIRE Directive 2007/2/EC together 
create a legal foundation for the sharing of environmental information 
between public authorities and with the public. This EIR focuses on 
INSPIRE. 
127 The guarantees are explained in Commission Notice on access to 
justice in environmental matters, OJL 275, 18.8.2017 and a related 
Citizen’s Guide. 
128 This EIR looks at how well Member States explain access to justice 
rights to the public, and at legal standing and other major barriers to 
bringing cases on nature and air pollution. 
129 MITA, The Malta Spatial Data Infrastructure portal.  
130 Malta’s Planning Authority, Geoserver. 

on  their  2016  implementation  report131  and  their  most 
recent monitoring data from 2017132. 

Figure  23:  Access  to  spatial  data  through  view  and 
download services in Malta (2017)  

Public participation 

Public participation in environmental matters in Malta is 
regulated mainly in the Environment Protection Act (Cap 
549) as well as in sector-specific legislation and through a 
number of pieces of subsidiary legislation. The Plans and 
(Public  Participation)  Regulation  S.L. 
Programmes 
549.41)133 is also of relevance. 

Public consultations on environmental permits are made 
available  on  the 
industrial  permitting  pages  of  the 
Environment & Resources Authority (ERA) website134, and 
ongoing  public  consultations  on  policies,  regulations, 
plans  and  programmes  on 
‘active  public 
consultations’ page135. In addition, the Planning Authority 
website includes information about planning permissions 
and  plans,  including  open  consultations  on  policies  and 
plans136.  All  government  documents  open  for  public 
consultation  are  also  published  on  the  Ministry  for 
European Affairs and Equality website137. 

the 

is  very  strong  agreement 

The  Eurobarometer  figures  from  2017  show  that  for 
(93 %  of 
Malta 
there 
respondents)  that  an 
in 
protecting  the  environment  which  is  slightly  lower  than 
2014. 

individual  can  play  a  role 

131 INSPIRE MT country sheet 2017. 
132 INSPIRE monitoring dashboard. 
133 Maltas Justice Services, Plans And Programmes (Public Participation). 
134 ERA, Industrial Permitting. 
135 ERA, Active Public Consultations. 
136 Malta’s Planning Authority, Consultation. 
137 The Government of Malta,  Public Consultations Online. 

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Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

NGOs  to  bring  legal  challenges  on  air  pollution  and 
nature. 

Compliance assurance 

to  ensure 

Environmental compliance assurance covers all the work 
undertaken  by  public  authorities 
that 
industries,  farmers  and  others  fulfil  their  obligations  to 
protect  water,  air  and  nature,  and  manage  waste138.  It 
includes  support  measures  provided  by  the  authorities, 
such as:  
(i) compliance promotion139;  
(ii) inspections and other checks that they carry out, i.e. 
compliance monitoring140; and  
(iii)  the  steps  that  they  take  to  stop  breaches,  impose 
sanctions  and  require  damage  to  be  remedied,  i.e. 
enforcement141.  
Citizen  science  and  complaints  enable  authorities  to 
liability142 
focus  their  efforts  better.  Environmental 
ensures that the polluter pays to remedy any damage. 

Compliance promotion and monitoring 

The  quality  of  online  information  to  farmers  on  how  to 
comply  with  obligations  on  nitrates  and  nature  is  an 
indicator of how actively authorities promote compliance 
implementation  gaps.  Official 
in  areas  with  serious 
websites  in  Malta  provide  some  useful  information  for 
farmers  in  relation  to  fertilizer  traceability,  nutrient 
management  plans,  record  keeping143,  etc.  Whilst  this 
information is relatively easy to access, it does not seem 
to  provide  detailed  explicit  information  on  concrete 
farmer obligation and how to comply with them. 

Major  industrial  installations  present  serious  pollution 
risks.  Public  authorities  are  required  to  have  plans  to 
inspect  them  and  to  make  individual  inspection  reports 
available to the public144. However, except some data on 
number  of  inspections  carried  out145,  information  about 
such plans and reports is missing from official websites in 
Malta. 

Citizen science and complaint handling 

138 The concept is explained in detail in the Communication on ‘EU 
actions to improve environmental compliance and governance’ 
COM(2018)10 and the related Commission Staff Working Document, 
SWD(2018)10. 
139 This EIR focuses on the help given to farmers to comply with nature 
and nitrates legislation. 
140 This EIR focuses on inspections of major industrial installations. 
141This EIR focuses on the availability of enforcement data and co-
ordination between authorities to tackle environmental crime. 
142 The Environmental Liability Directive 2004/35/EC, creates the 
framework. 
143 The Government of Malta, Record keeping pertinent to the Nitrates 
Directive;  Nature Permits.  
144 Article 23, Industrial Emissions Directive, 2010/75/EU. 
145 ERA, Annual Report 2016, p28. 

Access to justice 

Significant  progress  is  needed  to  inform  the  general 
individuals  and 
public  about  effective  remedies  for 
in 
environmental  associations  on  access  to 
justice 
environmental  matters  under  Maltese  and  EU 
law. 
Succinct  information  on  access  to  justice  is  available  on 
the ERA (Environment and Resources Authority) website. 
It  includes  also  two  Guidance  Notes  on  the  Aarhus 
Convention produced in 2008 so much of the information 
found  there  is  out  of  date.  Therefore,  structured  and 
user-friendly  online  information,  available  should  be 
ensured by public authorities. 

Both individuals and NGOs have access to administrative 
procedures,  although  NGOs  must  be  registered  as 
objectors,  i.e.  they  must  have  registered  an  objection 
against  a  permit.  On  judicial  procedures,  there  is  a 
general right of access to justice for any ‘interested party’ 
to  ask  the  courts  to  review  the  validity  of  an  act  by  the 
public  sector  or  the  breach  of  any  law.  Individuals  must 
prove a direct interest, e.g. by being a registered objector 
for  a  planning  permit  or  a  consulted/identified 
stakeholder under the EIA Regulations. NGOs have access 
to  judicial  procedures  only  under  EIA  and  IPPC,  and  the 
right of access to information to review a decision. NGOs 
that  promote  environmental  protection  and  meet 
national  legal  requirements  qualify  as  a  person  with 
‘sufficient interest’. It is not clear whether NGOs will have 
legal standing to bring legal  challenges in nature and air 
pollution cases. 

2019 priority actions 

 

Improve  access  to  spatial  data  and  services  by 
making  stronger 
linkages  between  the  country 
INSPIRE  portals  ,  identify  and  document  all  spatial 
datasets  required  to  implement  environmental  law, 
and  make  the  data  and  documentation  at  least 
accessible  'as  is'  to  other  public  authorities  and  the 
public  through  the  digital  services  envisaged  in  the 
INSPIRE Directive. 

  Better inform the public about their access to justice 
rights,  notably  on  air  pollution  and  nature  and 
ensure that there is legal standing for environmental 

32 

 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

Engagement of citizens, including through citizen science, 
can deepen knowledge about the environment and help 
the  authorities  in  their  work.  The  added  value  of  citizen 
engagement,  use  of  citizen  science146  and  earth 
observation147  tools  for  environmental  (compliance) 
monitoring is well recognised in Malta. The availability of 
clear online information about how to make a complaint 
is  an  indicator  of  how  responsive  authorities  are  to 
complaints  from  the  public.  The  ERA  website  includes  a 
general  ‘Enquiries’  link148  with  an  email  address  and 
phone numbers for people to ask for further information 
or  submit  a  query149.  This  includes  a  phone  number  to 
report  environmental  emergencies  even  after  office 
hours.  The  MSDEC  website 
link  on  the 
homepage  to  the  Servizz  website,  which  is  an  online 
guide to government  services150. This includes an option 
to  file  a  complaint151  via  a  generic  online  form.  There 
does  not  appear  to  be  any  specific  separate  route  for 
filing  a  complaint  about  environmental  nuisance  or 
damage. 

includes  a 

Enforcement 

When  monitoring 
identifies  problems,  a  range  of 
responses  may  be  appropriate.  Detailed  officially 
published information is missing for Malta on the issue of 
warnings,  sanctions  and  compliance  after  follow-up 
measures  and  enforcement  action  has  been  taken152. 
According to some online available literature, the use of 
criminal  and  administrative  sanctions  for  environmental 
crime  is  very  limited  in  Malta153.  From  information 
available to the Commission, measures have been taken 
to  strengthen  enforcement  such  as  special  police  forces 
to  enforce  hunting  and  trapping  derogations.  However, 
the number of complaints reporting illegalities questions 
the effectiveness of the resource allocation. Information 
on  responses  to  cross-compliance  breaches  on  nitrates 
and nature is also lacking. 

Tackling  waste,  wildlife  and  other  environmental  crimes 
is  especially  challenging  and  requires  close  cooperation 
and  coordination  arrangements  between 
inspectors, 
customs authorities, police and prosecutors. No relevant 

146 For example, the ERA website refers to a successful marine litter 
clean up initiative organised by Let’s Do It Malta in association with 
MEPA and involving over 1 000 volunteers in the Maltese Islands. 
147 Times of Malta (2016), Malta to form part of European earth 
monitoring system, Thursday 10 November 2016,  
148 ERA, Enquiries.  
149 ERA, the e-mail address info@era.org.mt can be used when the 
public wishes to report an illegality or infringement or a compliant, 
Enquiries. 
150 The full name of the website is servizz.gov.mt.  
151 The Government of Malta, file a complaint.  
152 The ‘environment enforcement’ page of the MSDEC152 is only 
accessible using a login (which Maltese citizens can apply for). 
153 GħSL Online Law Journal, environmental crimes reference to Malta  

publicly available information has been found on official 
websites in Malta154.  

Environmental liability 

The  Environmental  Liability  Directive  (ELD)  establishes  a 
framework  based  on  the  ‘polluter  pays’  principle  to 
prevent  and  remedy  environmental  damage.  The  2017 
EIR 
information  on 
environmental  damage,  on  financial  security  and  on 
establishing  guidance.  The  Commission  is  still  collecting 
evidence on the progress made. 

focused  on  gathering  better 

2019 priority actions 

  Better 

inform 

the  public  about 

compliance 
promotion,  monitoring  and  enforcement.  As  a 
minimum  this  should  involve  providing  more  online 
information  to  farmers  about  how  to  comply  with 
obligations on nitrates and nature.  
Similarly,  it  should  involve  publishing  more  online 
information  on  inspection  plans  and  reports  on 
information  on 
industrial 
outcomes  of  enforcement  action  and  of  the  follow-
up  to  detected  cross-compliance  breaches  on 
nitrates and nature. 
Ensure  more 
dealing with environmental crime work together. 
Improve  financial  security  for  liabilities  and  ELD-
guidance  and  publish  information  on  environmental 
damage. 

information  on  how  professionals 

inspections,  publishing 

 

 

 

Effectiveness of environmental 
administrations 

in 

involved 

implementing 

Those 
environmental 
legislation at EU, national, regional and local levels need 
to have the knowledge, tools and capacity to ensure that 
the  legislation  and  the  governance  of  the  enforcement 
process bring about the intended benefits. 

Administrative capacity and quality 

According to the 2016 ERA Annual Report, the number of 
staff almost  doubled by the end of 2016, to 161 in total 
up  to  190  by  June  2018.  This  included  increasing  the 
number of staff in the Permitting Unit  to help address a 
backlog  of  cases155,  with  additional  increases  envisaged 
by 2019. 

Since there are no specific environmental courts, there is 
no data on judges that specialise in environmental cases. 

154 However, Malta indicates that regular cooperation and coordination 
take place in practice between Customs, ERA, Police, Plant Health, in 
particular in relation to the CITES Regulation.  
155 Environment & Resources Authority, (2018), Annual Report 2016, p. 
25. 

33 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

to 

to  preserve 

favour  policy 

In an effort  to  enshrine environmental protection in the 
Constitution,  in  March  2018,  the  Maltese  Environment 
Minister  proposed  a  constitutional  amendment  to 
introduce a ‘strong moral and political obligation’ for the 
the 
government 
environment for future generations. The Bill would flesh 
out Article 9 of the Constitution to read: ‘The State shall 
protect  the  environment  for  the  benefit  of  present  and 
future  generations  and  shall  take  measures  to  address 
the  problem  of  pollution  and  any  other  form  of 
environmental degradation in Malta, and to promote the 
right of action in favour of the environment.’ If the Bill is 
adopted,  the  Maltese  government  intends  to  work  to 
create an environmental court to be tasked with deciding 
legal matters related to the environment156. 

Coordination and integration 

As  mentioned  in  the  2017  EIR  Report,  the  transposition 
of the revised EIA Directive157 provides an opportunity to 
streamline  the  regulatory  framework  on  environmental 
assessments.  Despite  a  delay  in  full  transposition  in 
relation  to  the  deadline 
(May  2017),  Malta  has 
transposed the revised Directive.  

to 

in  order 

applicable 

The  Commission  encourages  the  streamlining  of  the 
reduce 
environmental  assessments 
duplication  and  avoid  overlaps 
in  environmental 
assessments 
projects.  Moreover, 
streamlining  helps  reducing  unnecessary  administrative 
burden  and  accelerates  decision-making,  without 
the  environmental 
compromising 
assessment 
introduced 
coordination  of  environmental  assessments  under  EIA 
and Habitats Directives. 

the  quality  of 
procedure.158  Malta 

has 

to 

The  demerger  of  the  former  Malta  Environment  and 
Planning  Authority  (MEPA)  in  two  distinct,  namely  the 
Environment  and  Resources  Authority  (ERA)  and  the 
Planning  Authority  was  meant,  notably,  to  facilitate  the 
integration  and  mainstreaming  of  environmental 
management and policy across Government and society. 
In the light of the growing pressure on land from building 
development  in  Malta,  coordination  and  integration  of 
policies  is  all  the  more  important  to  avoid  and  reduce 
adverse  environmental 
integrate 
environmental  considerations  in  development  planning 

impacts  and 

to 

decisions  and  related  follow-ups.  In  that  respect,  the 
issuing by ERA of Terms of Reference for the preparation 
of  Method  Statements  and  Operating  Procedures  to 
guide  applicants,  architects,  developers,  contractors, 
consultants  and  other  responsible  persons  or  entities 
during  construction  works  and  other  site  interventions, 
to avoid and mitigate environmental impacts is useful. 

Adaptability, reform dynamics and innovation 
(eGovernment) 
Overall,  Malta  ranks  12th  in  Digital  Public  Services159, 
above  the  EU  average,  but  the  indicators  in  this  index 
show a mixed picture. 

Malta is a European leader on the supply of government 
services  for  citizens.  It  ranks  first  on  the  re-use  of 
information across administrations to make life easier for 
citizens (pre-filled forms) as well as on the sophistication 
of  services  (online  service  completion),  where  it  has  the 
maximum score160. In the DESI Report 2018, Malta had a 
score  of  62  out  of  100  on  digital  public  services,  higher 
than  the  EU  average  of  58161.  However,  the  use  of 
eGovernment  and  eHealth  by  citizens  as  well  as  Open 
data is below the EU average. 

launched 

In  2017,  Malta  continued  to  improve  the  digital  public 
service  user  experience.  As  part  of 
the  mobile 
government  strategy,  the  first  wave  of  applications  has 
been 
and 
complementing  the  existing  communication  channels 
between the government and citizens, targeting a variety 
of  services,  such  as  taxation,  customs,  health  and 
environmental services162. 

extending 

focusing 

on 

Malta  is  developing  a  national  data  strategy.  As  part  of 
the strategy, the National Data Infrastructure will be set 
up  to  ensure  that  the  once-only  principle  will  be 
implemented at national level. 

The  continuous 
in  digital  public 
improvements 
services  are  key  to  ensure  that  more  and  more 
citizens and companies benefit from eGovernment. 

Enabling financing and effective use of funds 

Malta utilised fully the EUR 987 million allocation for the 
2007-2013 period. As previously mentioned in Section 4, 
25%  of  this  amount  was  devoted  to  environmental 

156 Malta Today, Government presents motion to entrench 
Constitutional protection of environment.  
157 Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council 
of 16 April 2014 amending Directive 2011/92/EU on the assessment of 
the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment. 
158 The Commission issued a guidance document in 2016 regarding the 
setting up of coordinated and/or joint procedures that are 
simultaneously subject to assessments under the EIA Directive, Habitats 
Directive, Water Framework Directive, and the Industrial Emissions 
Directive, OJ C 273, 27.7.2016, p. 1. 

159 European Commission (2017), Europe’s Digital Progress Report 
(EDPR) 2017 Country Profile Malta. 
160 European Commission, Digital Economy and Society Index 2018, 
Country Profile Malta.  
161 European Commission, Digital Economy and Society Index Report 
2018, Digital Public Services. 
162 Malta Information Technology Agency has also contributed with the 
launch of ‘Maltapps to enhance the visibility and access of Government 
mServices and improving public service user experience. 

34 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

investments,  although  the  initial  planned  allocation  was 
35 %. 

The  analysis  of  the  implementation  per  Fund  presented 
by  Malta  in  its  2017  annual  implementation  report  for 
in  terms  of 
ESIF  shows  that  at  the  end  of  2017, 
commitments,  50%,  or  EUR  358  million,  of 
the 
Programme  was  committed163.  In  terms  of  contracting, 
the  amounts  are  still  low  given  that  by  the  end  of  the 
year  in  review,  many  projects  were  still  at  their  very 
initial  stages  of  implementation.  In  fact,  by  end  2017, 
EUR  107  million  or  30%  of  the  committed  programme 
allocation was contracted. It is stated that the initial slow 
financial  progress  is  not  new  and  has  already  been 
experienced  in  previous  programming  periods.  In  that 
respect, it is explained the country’s size, both in terms of 
market  size  but  also 
in  terms  of  the  size  of  the 
administration,  can  have  a  significant  impact  on  the 
speed  of 
implementation  of  an  Operational 
Programme. 

the 

In  terms  of  enabling  financing  and  the  absorption  of 
funds,  it  appears  the  MSDEC  hosted  a  LIFE  information 
session in Malta in May 2018 to provide information on 
the  2018  LIFE  calls,  guidance  on  how  to  submit  an  e-
Proposal and to offer potential applicants an opportunity 
to  ask  questions.  The  MSDEC  website  also  includes 
information  on  an  Environmental  Funding  Support 
Scheme  for  Voluntary  Organisations164,  although  the 
latest 
funding  guidelines  and 
application form) date from 2016. 
The  Malta  Council  for  the  Voluntary  Sector  website165 
includes  information  on  both  EU  and  local  funding 
opportunities relevant to the voluntary/NGO sector. This 
includes  the  results  of  the  2017  round  of  funding  under 
the  Environmental  Funding  Support  Scheme 
for 
Voluntary Organisations166. 

information 

(e.g. 

2019 priority actions 

 

 

citizen 

enforcement, 

transparency, 
and 

Further  improve  overall  environmental  governance 
engagement, 
(such 
as 
compliance 
as 
administrative capacity and coordination). 
In particular, strengthen environmental enforcement 
overall,  notably  by  ensuring  that  the  Environment 
and  Resources  Authority  has  operative  remits  to 
effectively  avoid  and  reduce  adverse  environmental 
environmental 
impacts 

as  well 

integrate 

and 

to 

163 Fostering a competitive and sustainable economy to meet our 
challenges, annual implementation report, 25.5.2018, p. 5. 
164 Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate 
Change, Environmental Funding — Support Scheme for Voluntary 
Organisations.  
165 Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector, Funding Opportunities.  
166 Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector, (2017), Projects Ranking Call 
2017. 

35 

 

in  development  planning 

considerations  notably 
decisions and related follow-ups. 
There should be clear and transparent processes for 
the  authorisation  of  permits,  facilities  and  activities 
that have impact on the environment. 

International agreements 

The  EU  Treaties  require  the  EU  environmental  policy  to 
promote  measures  at  international  level  to  deal  with 
regional or worldwide environmental problems. 

The EU is committed to strengthening environmental law 
and its implementation globally. It therefore continues to 
support  the  Global  Pact  for  the  Environment  process, 
which  was  launched  by  the  United  Nations  General 
Assembly  in  May  2018167.  The  EIR  is  one  of  the  tools  to 
ensure  that  the  Member  States  set  a  good  example  by 
respecting  European  Union  environmental  policies  and 
laws and international agreements.  

Malta  has  signed  but  not  yet  ratified  the  Offshore 
Protocol  of  the  Barcelona  Convention  and  the  Protocol 
on Integrated Coastal Zone Management. 

Protocol 

the  Gothenburg 

Neither has it signed or ratified three agreements under 
the  Convention  on  Long-range  Transboundary  Air 
Pollution: 
to  Abate 
Acidification,  Eutrophication  and  Ground-level  Ozone; 
the Persistent Organic Pollutions Protocol and the Heavy 
Metals Protocol. The same applies to Protocol on SEA to 
Espoo Convention, the Helsinki Convention on Industrial 
Accidents,  the  African-Eurasian  Migratory  Waterbird 
Agreement,  the  Kiev  Protocol  on  Pollutant  Release  and 
Transfer Registers, the Helsinki Convention Watercourses 
and  Lakes  and  the  International  Convention  for  the 
Regulation of Whaling. 
Forests:  EU  Timber  Regulation  (EUTR)168/  Forest  Law 
(FLEGT) 
Enforcement,  Governance 
Regulation169 

Trade 

and 

Under  the  European  Timber  Trade  Regulation  (EUTR) 
which prohibits the placing on the EU market of illegally 
harvested  timber,  national  competent  authorities  must 
conduct  regular  checks  on  operators  and  traders,  and 
apply penalties in case of non-compliance. 

Between  March  2015  and  February  2017,  Malta  did  not 
plan  nor  perform  checks  on  operators  for  domestic 
timber,  reporting  they  have  no  operators  for  domestic 
timber.  However,  nine  checks  were  conducted  on 
operators importing timber. It is estimated that there are 

167 UN General Assembly Resolution 72/277 and Organizational session 
of the ad hoc open-ended working group.  
168 Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 . 
169 Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005. 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Malta 

750 operators  importing timber to Malta. Malta has not 
yet  issued  penalties  nor  taken  enforcement  actions 
against  operators  who  have 
legal 
obligations under the EUTR. 

infringed  their 

On cooperation (Article 12 of the EUTR), Malta reported 
cooperating  with  multiple  unspecified  competent 
authorities  by  exchanging 
information  and  technical 
support.  Malta  has  also  been  involved  in  building  up  a 
regional network for Mediterranean countries. 

In  that  respect,  experts  from  the  EUTR  competent 
authority  participated 
in  a  TAIEX-EIR  PEER-to-PEER 
workshop  in  order  strengthen  cooperation  among  the 
competent  authorities  from  eight  Mediterranean  EU 
Member  States,  including  Malta,  so  as  to  improve  and 
harmonise 
the 
Mediterranean region. Experts from the Netherlands and 
Denmark shared their experiences from the Nordic-Baltic 
Network of EUTR competent authorities. 

implementation  of 

the  EUTR 

in 

Genetic  resources:  Nagoya  Protocol  on  Access  to 
Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of 
Benefits Arising (ABS)170  

into  the  EU 

In  accordance  with  the  EU  ABS  Regulation,  which 
transposes 
legal  order  the  required 
compliance  measures  under  the  Nagoya  Protocol,  Malta 
has  designated  competent  authorities  and  enacted 
sanctions for infringements of the EU ABS Regulation. No 
due diligence declaration has so far been submitted and 
no  penalties  have  been  applied.  Malta  has  submitted 
their 
the 
implementation of the EU ABS Regulation (end of 2017). 

the  Commission  on 

report 

first 

to 

the  Convention  on 
trade: 
International  wildlife 
International  Trade  in  Endangered  Species  of  Wild 
Fauna and Flora (CITES)171 

transposing 

Pursuant  to  the  obligations  laid  down  in  the  Basic 
Regulation172, 
the  major  obligations 
stemming from the Convention on International Trade in 
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) into 
EU 
relevant  national 
authorities  and  is  processing  (requests  for)  import,  (re-) 
export and intra-EU trade documents on a regular basis. 

law,  Malta  has  established 

Reports  on  seizures  of  illegal  shipments,  in  particular 
those  reported  every  six  months  to  TRAFFIC  under  its 
contract with the Directorate-General for Environment of 
the European Commission and those exchanged through 
the  EU-TWIX  platform,  testify  to  the  activity  of  customs 
authorities. 

170 Regulation (EU) No 511/2014. 
171 The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of 
Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). 
172 Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97. 

2019 priority action 

  Become party to relevant multilateral environmental 
agreements  by  signing  and  ratifying  the  remaining 
agreements. 

Sustainable 
implementation of the UN SDGs 

development 

and 

the 

Sustainable development links environmental, social and 
economic policies in a coherent framework and therefore 
helps  to 
legislation  and 
policies. 

implement  environmental 

According  to  the  Maltese  government,  the  concept  of 
sustainable  development  is  at  the  heart  of  Malta’s 
economic, social and environmental development. Malta 
has also embraced the 2030 Agenda. The government is 
currently  drafting  Vision  2050,  a  document  that  will 
provide guidelines on long-term sustainable development 
in  Malta,  while 
integrating  the  2030  Agenda  by 
mainstreaming  sustainable  development  at  all  levels  of 
government. 

In  2018,  Malta  submitted  its  voluntary  national  review 
(VRN)  on  the  implementation  of  the  UN  SDGs.  The  VNR 
states  that  SDG  ownership  is  being  increased  through  a 
‘whole-of-government approach’. 

local  NGOs  and 

The National Platform of Maltese NGOs (SKOP) is working 
increase  awareness  and  establish  communication 
to 
the  public  sector  on 
between 
development-related issues. 
In  a  2017  report173,  Malta  ranked  22nd  out  of  157 
countries  for  its  achievements  towards  the  UN  SDGs. 
Significant  environment-related  challenges  identified  in 
the report relate to: 

 

 

 
 

 

imported 

SDG  6:  Freshwater  withdrawal  and 
groundwater depletion. 
SDG  7:  CO2  emissions  from  fuel  combustion  / 
electricity output. 
SDG 11: Particulate matter. 
SDG  12:  Municipal  solid  waste  generation,  net 
imported 
nitrogen 
production footprint. 
SDG 15: Red List Index of species survival. 

emissions, 

reactive 

SO2 

Major challenges relate to: 

 

 
 

SDG  12:  E-waste  generation,  production  based  SO2 
emissions,  net 
imported  emissions  of  reactive 
nitrogen. 
SDG 13: Energy-related CO2 emissions. 
SDG 14: Clean marine waters, fisheries ocean health. 

173 Bertelsmann Stiftung and Sustainable Development Solutions 
Network (2017), SDG Index and Dashboards Report 2017.  

36