COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 2025 Environmental Implementation Review 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 2025 Environmental Implementation Review for prosperity and security
Date: 2025-07-07
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, Malta, application of EU law, biodiversity, circular economy, climate change policy, environmental law, governance, pollution control measures, waste management

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 7.7.2025  SWD(2025) 318 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 2025 Environmental Implementation Review        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 2025 Environmental Implementation Review for prosperity and security       {COM(2025) 420 final} - {SWD(2025) 300 final} - {SWD(2025) 301 final} - {SWD(2025) 302 final} - {SWD(2025) 303 final} - {SWD(2025) 304 final} - {SWD(2025) 305 final} - {SWD(2025) 306 final} - {SWD(2025) 307 final} - {SWD(2025) 308 final} - {SWD(2025) 309 final} - {SWD(2025) 310 final} - {SWD(2025) 311 final} - {SWD(2025) 312 final} - {SWD(2025) 313 final} - {SWD(2025) 314 final} - {SWD(2025) 315 final} - {SWD(2025) 316 final} - {SWD(2025) 317 final} - {SWD(2025) 319 final} - {SWD(2025) 320 final} - {SWD(2025) 321 final} - {SWD(2025) 322 final} - {SWD(2025) 323 final} - {SWD(2025) 324 final} - {SWD(2025) 325 final} - {SWD(2025) 326 final}  
 
 
Malta  2 

Contents 

Executive summary ................................................................................................................................................ 3 

Part I: Thematic areas ............................................................................................................................................ 4 

1. Circular economy and waste management .................................................................................................... 4 
Transitioning to a circular economy ..................................................................................................................... 4 
Waste management ............................................................................................................................................. 6 
2. Biodiversity and natural capital ................................................................................................................... 12 
Global and EU biodiversity frameworks ............................................................................................................. 12 
Nature protection and restoration – Natura 2000 ............................................................................................. 12 
Recovery of species ............................................................................................................................................ 14 
Recovery of ecosystems ..................................................................................................................................... 16 
Prevention and management of invasive alien species ...................................................................................... 20 
Ecosystem assessment and accounting ............................................................................................................. 22 
3. Zero pollution .............................................................................................................................................. 23 
Clean air ............................................................................................................................................................. 23 
Industrial emissions ............................................................................................................................................ 24 
Major industrial accidents prevention – Seveso ................................................................................................. 26 
Mercury Regulation ............................................................................................................................................ 28 
Noise .................................................................................................................................................................. 28 
Water quality and management ........................................................................................................................ 29 
Chemicals ........................................................................................................................................................... 31 
4. Climate action .............................................................................................................................................. 35 
The EU emissions trading system ....................................................................................................................... 36 
Effort sharing ..................................................................................................................................................... 36 
Land use, land-use change and forestry ............................................................................................................. 37 
Adaptation to climate change ............................................................................................................................ 37 

Part II: Enabling framework – implementation tools............................................................................................ 38 

5. Financing ..................................................................................................................................................... 38 
Climate finance landmarks ................................................................................................................................. 38 
Environmental financing and investments ......................................................................................................... 39 
Public financial management ............................................................................................................................. 43 
6. Environmental governance .......................................................................................................................... 46 
Information, public participation and access to justice...................................................................................... 46 
Compliance assurance ........................................................................................................................................ 48 
EU-supported environmental capacity building ................................................................................................. 50 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Malta  3 

Executive summary 

In  May  2016,  the  European  Commission  launched  the 
Environmental  Implementation  Review  (EIR),  a  regular 
tool  based  on  analysis,  dialogue  and 
reporting 
collaboration  with  EU  Member  States  to  improve  the 
implementation  of  existing  EU  environmental  policy  and 
legislation (1). Following previous cycles in 2017, 2019 and 
2022,  this  report  assesses  the  progress  made  while 
the  main  outstanding  challenges  and 
describing 
opportunities 
legal 
implementation in Malta. The purpose of this report is to 
provide information on the implementation performance 
and  highlight  the  most  effective  ways  to  address  the 
implementation  gaps  that  impact human health and the 
environment and hamper the economic development and 
competitiveness  of  the  country.  The  report  relies  on 
detailed  sectoral  implementation  reports  collected  or 
issued  by  the  Commission  under  specific  environmental 
legislation. 

environmental 

regarding 

The  main  challenges  set  out  below  have  been  selected 
from  Part I  of  this  report,  ‘Thematic  areas’,  taking  into 
consideration 
factors  such  as  the  gravity  of  the 
environmental implementation issue in light of the impact 
on the quality of life of citizens, the distance to target and 
financial  implications.  In  Malta  such  challenges  have 
lingered  since  the  first  Environmental  Implementation 
Review in 2017 and require urgent action. 

Urgent  reforms  and  investments  in  waste  management 
and the circular economy are needed to move away from 
Malta’s  reliance  on  landfills  for  waste  disposal,  which 
remains  significant.  In  particular,  Malta  relies  greatly  on 
landfills  for  municipal  waste  and  construction  and 
demolition  waste.  Malta  missed  by  a  large  margin  the 
2020 target to recycle 50 % of its municipal waste and is 
on  a  course  to  miss  the  2025  targets  to  recycle  55 %  of 
municipal waste and 65 % of all packaging waste. 

There has been a general deterioration of biodiversity and 
nature in Malta. Illegal trapping and hunting of protected 
bird species continues to be a matter of serious concern in 
Malta in spite of two rulings of the Court of Justice of the 
European  Union  in  2018  and  2024  on  this  matter. 
Furthermore, sealed, artificially modified and/or degraded 
soil  continues  to  increase  in  Malta  due  to  excessive 
construction.  This,  together  with  the  environmental 
pressures on the relatively small number of forested areas 
on the islands – only 17 % have a favourable conservation 
in  Malta 
status –  makes  the  situation  of  nature 
unsustainable. 

(1) 

from 

the  Commission 

the  European 
Communication 
Parliament,  the  Council,  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions –  Delivering  the 
benefits  of  EU  environmental  policies  through  a  regular 

to 

Urban wastewater collected in Malta is not being properly 
treated as required by EU law. In 2024, the Court of Justice 
of  the  European  Union  condemned  Malta  for  failure  to 
ensure  compliance  with  the  relevant  EU  directive  in  the 
Malta North and Malta South agglomerations. 

The  overall  environmental  investment  need  to  enable 
Malta  to  meet  its  objectives  in  the  main  environmental 
areas is EUR 370 million per year, broken down as follows: 
circular  economy (EUR 248 million); pollution prevention 
and control (EUR 60 million); water (EUR 60 million); and 
biodiversity  and  ecosystems  (EUR 5 million).  To  meet 
these  four  environmental  objectives  beyond  climate 
change, the additional investment need over the current 
levels  –  the  investment  gap –  reaches  an  estimated 
EUR 90 million  per  year  in  Malta,  representing  around 
0.53 %  of  the  national  gross  domestic  product,  being 
lower than the EU average (0.77 %). 

that 

Regarding  environmental  governance,  Malta  needs 
assessment 
ensure 
strategic  environmental 
decisions,  and  plans  and  programmes 
in  other 
environmental  fields,  can  be  challenged  by  interested 
parties under the fundamental right of access to justice. In 
addition,  where  authorisations 
(e.g.  development 
consent)  take  the  form  of  legislation,  Malta  needs  to 
provide  the  opportunity  for  administrative  review  or 
judicial review. 

On  the  positive  side,  Malta  continues  to  implement 
properly  the  Inspire  Directive,  thus  providing  relevant 
environmental  spatial  information  for  good  governance. 
Malta also has an excellent record when it comes to the 
Bathing Water Directive: 92 % of Maltese bathing waters 
are excellent. 

implementation  review,  COM(2016) 316 
environmental 
final  of  27 May  2016,  http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM%3A2016%3A316%3AFIN.  

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
Malta  4 

Part I: Thematic areas 

1. Circular economy and waste management 

Transitioning to a circular economy 

Figure 1: CMUR (%), 2013–2023 

Advancing the transition to a circular economy in the EU 
will reduce the environmental and climate impact of our 
industrial systems  by  reducing  input  materials,  keeping 
products  and  materials  in  the  loop  for  longer  and 
reducing  waste  generation,  thus  decoupling  economic 
growth from resource consumption. A circular economy 
has  considerable  potential  to  increase  competitiveness 
and  job  creation  and  will  also  promote  innovation  and 
provide  access  to  new  markets.  With  the  2020  circular 
economy action plan (CEAP) (2) measures either in place 
or  legislatively  advanced,  EU  Member  States  will  now 
have to focus on a swift and effective implementation. 

The 2020 CEAP launched the legislative process for a set 
of  initiatives  that  will  now  have  to  be  implemented  by 
national  governments  across  the  EU.  These  initiatives 
were  all 
life-cycle 
introduced  following  a  holistic 
approach, with measures addressing the different stages 
of a product’s life cycle, from design through use to end 
of life. 

In the CEAP, the EU sets as its overarching objective the 
doubling of its circular material use rate (CMUR) by 2030. 

The CMUR is a measure of one aspect of circularity: the 
share  of  the  total  amount  of  material  used  in  the 
economy  that  is  accounted  for  by  recycled  waste.  A 
higher  CMUR  value  means  that  more  secondary 
materials  were  used  as  a  substitute  for  raw  materials, 
thus  reducing  the  environmental  impacts  of  extracting 
primary material. 

Malta’s  circular  use  of  materials  has  been  steadily 
increasing  since  2016,  with  a  significant  rise  in  2022, 
reaching 21.5 %. Although the rate decreased slightly to 
19.8 % in 2023, it remains well above the EU average of 
11.8 % (Figure 1). 

25

20

15

10

5

0

2015

2017

2019

2021

2023

Malta

EU-27

Source: Eurostat, ‘Circular material use rate’, env_ac_cur, last updated 
13 November 
2024, 
accessed 
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/product/view/env_ac_cu
r. 

10 December 

2024, 

product 

Resource  productivity  measures  the  total  amount  of 
materials directly used by an economy in relation to gross 
domestic 
resource 
(GDP). 
productivity  can  help  to  minimise  negative  impacts  on 
the environment and reduce dependency on volatile raw 
material markets. In 2023, after a steady increase since 
2018  (Figure 2),  Malta  generated  EUR 2.82  per  kg  of 
material consumed, above the EU average of EUR 2.23. 

Improving 

Figure 2: Resource productivity (EUR/kg), 2013–2023 

3,0

2,0

1,0

0,0

2013

2015

2017

2019

2021

2023

Malta

EU-27

NB:  The  unit  of  measurement  used  is  EUR/kg  chain-linked  volume 
(2015). Chain-linked volumes focus on changes on quantities and prices 
of commodities in previous years, taking account of inflation, and are 
indexed to the nearest appropriate year, in this case 2015. 

Source:  Eurostat,  ‘Resource  productivity’,  env_ac_rp,  last  updated 
7 August 
2024, 
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/product/view/env_ac_rp. 

10 December 

accessed 

2024, 

(2) 

from 

the  Commission 

the  European 
Communication 
Parliament,  the  Council,  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions –  A  new  circular 
economy action plan for a cleaner and more competitive Europe, 

to 

COM(2020) 98 
lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM%3A2020%3A98%3AFIN. 

11 March 

2020, 

final 

of 

https://eur-

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
Policies and measures 

In  parallel  with  European  initiatives  under  the  CEAP, 
Member States are encouraged to adopt and implement 
circular strategies at the national, regional and city levels. 
These  should  be  tailored  to  each  national  and  local 
reality, to harness the proximity economy’s (3)potential, 
while following the  principles of a holistic whole-value-
chain approach. 

launch  of  the  online  European  Circular 
Since  the 
Economy  Stakeholder  Platform 
in  2017 (4)  national, 
regional and local authorities have used the platform to 
share their strategies, roadmaps, and good practices, for 
example  alternative  business  models  and  innovative 
technologies. 

In  2020,  the  Maltese  Ministry  for  the  Environment, 
Climate Change and Planning (MECP) published, together 
with Circular  Economy Malta and the Environment  and 
Resources  Authority  (ERA),  its  national  strategic  vision 
2020–2030 –  towards  a  circular  economy (5).  With  this, 
Malta introduced a series of measures to reduce waste 
generation  and,  in  particular,  landfilling.  Malta  has 
implemented the beverage container refund scheme to 
promote the return and recycling of single-use beverage 
containers. This has achieved collection rates of 83 % for 
polyethylene 
for 
aluminium  cans  and  74 %  for  glass  bottles (6).  The 
introduced  plans  for  financial 
strategic  vision  also 
incentives  for  the  donation  of  products,  extended 
producer responsibility (EPR) schemes for various types 
of  waste,  and  support  for  research  and  innovation  on 
recycling and remanufacturing. 

containers,  82 % 

terephthalate 

Malta  has  introduced  sectoral  legislation  for  single-use 
plastics  and  the  construction  sector.  The  single-use 
plastics strategy 2021–2030 – rethink plastics introduces 
24  measures  aiming  at  reducing  the  consumption  of 
certain single-use plastic products through bans on  the 
import and production of some products and on the sale 
and distribution of others. 

In April 2024, Circular Economy Malta launched the bring 
your  own  container 
initiative  to  reduce  single-use 
packaging  waste  in  line  with  Malta’s  long-term  waste 
management  plan  2021–2030  and  the  EU’s  CEAP.  The 
to  use  reusable 
initiative  encourages  consumers 
containers  for  food,  beverages,  cleaning  and  personal 
care  products  through  financial  incentives  such  as 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

‘Proximity  and 

European  Commission, 
social  economy 
ecosystem’,  European  Commission  website,  https://single-
market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/proximity-and-social-
economy_en. 
Circular 
(https://circulareconomy.europa.eu/platform/en/strategies). 
https://www.cemalta.gov.mt/wp-
content/uploads/2021/09/email-version-fin..pdf. 

Stakeholder 

Economy 

Platform 

Malta  5 

discounts  or  loyalty  rewards  offered  by  the  registered 
providers of these products. Businesses participating in 
the bring your own container initiative are distinguished 
with  a  logo  and  listed  on  an  interactive  map.  By 
joined, 
November  2024,  300  establishments  had 
fostering collaboration between consumers, businesses 
and  the  government  to  promote  sustainable  practices. 
Looking ahead, Circular Economy Malta plans to expand 
the  initiative,  intensifying  public  awareness  campaigns 
and  maintaining  compliance  through  inspections  to 
support Malta’s transition to a circular economy. 

transition 

Malta is currently working on a national strategy for the 
environment  2050,  which  will  set  the  framework  for  a 
longer-term 
increased  sustainability. 
to 
Circular  economy  is  mentioned  throughout  the  text, 
which 
includes  more  upstream  measures  on  the 
initiatives 
sustainable  design  of  products  and 
empowering consumers, reflecting the measures of the 
EU’s 2020 CEAP. 

Malta is among the 26 Member States that are subject to 
an  infringement  proceeding  for  failing  to  meet  waste 
collection  and  recycling  targets (7).  Malta  has  not 
developed  circular  action  plans  at  the  local  or  regional 
level. 

Green public procurement 

Public  procurement  accounts  for  a  large  proportion  of 
consumption,  with  public  authorities’ 
European 
purchasing power representing around 14 % of EU GDP. 
Public procurement using green or circular criteria (life-
cycle  analysis,  platform  as  a  service,  second  hand)  can 
help  drive  the  demand  for  sustainable  products  that 
meet reparability and recyclability standards. 

Malta’s  current  plan,  the  green  public  procurement 
(GPP) national action plan 2022–2027, incorporates the 
requirements of the Clean Vehicles Directive and aims to 
be both ambitious and realistic. This plan sets targets for 
17 product and service groups, including new areas such 
as street lighting and traffic signals, healthcare electrical 
and  electronic  equipment,  transport,  paints,  varnishes, 
road markings, computers and monitors, office building 
design and management, road design and maintenance, 
toilets and urinals, and hospitality and catering services. 
Malta’s  target  is  to  progressively  increase  the  share  of 
in  government 
greener  products  and 

services 

(6) 

(7) 

See the website of the beverage container refund scheme 
(https://bcrsmalta.mt/). 
European  Commission,  ‘July  infringement  package’,  Brussels, 
25 July 
2024, 
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/inf_24
_3228. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
procurement so that 90 % of tenders fall under the scope 
of GPP by 2027. 

framework  to  speed  up  the  transition  to  a  circular 
economy. 

Malta  6 

Several  initiatives  are  being  pursued  to  improve  GPP 
implementation. These include the enhancement of GPP 
training  courses  offered  by  the  Institute  for  the  Public 
Services and the development of a new GPP platform to 
assist  with  queries  and  provide  easy  access  to 
information (8). 

This platform has now been integrated into the national 
electronic procurement system to allow for collection of 
data  at  the  pre-publication  phase  in  digital  format.  In 
addition to this form of data collection, the Ministry for 
the  Environment,  Energy  and  Public  Cleanliness  also 
undertakes  a  quality  assurance  exercise  that  compares 
the data collected in each ministry’s weekly GPP reports 
post-publication  with  the  tenders  published  on  the 
electronic procurement system. 

Malta  has  not  reported  any  other  measures  to  the 
Commission 
Environmental 
the 
Implementation Review (EIR). 

since 

2022 

The EU Ecolabel and the eco-management and audit 
scheme 

The  number  of  EU  Ecolabel  product  groups  and  the 
number of eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS)-
licensed  organisations  in  each  country  provide  some 
indication of the extent to which the private sector and 
national  stakeholders 
in  that  country  are  actively 
engaged in the transition to a circular economy. The EU 
Ecolabel  is  awarded  to  products  with  best-in-class 
is  a  voluntary 
environmental  performance.  EMAS 
environment  management  scheme  aimed  at  reducing 
the environmental impacts of organisations. 

As of September 2024, Malta had 18 products (most of 
them cleaning products) out of 98 977 in the EU, and 6 
licences  out  of  2 983  registered  in  the  EU  Ecolabel 
scheme. This shows a very low take-up of the products 
and licences. Moreover, only one organisation in Malta is 
currently  registered  in  EMAS,  the  same  as  in  October 
2021. For  such voluntary schemes, granting national or 
regional  regulatory  or  legislative  incentives  as  well  as 
further  promoting  the  schemes  is  crucial  for  securing 
uptake. 

The CMUR of Malta decreased by 1.7 percentage points 
in 2023. However, it remains above the EU average. 

No  progress  has  been  made  on  the  priority  action 
delivered  in  the  2022  EIR  to  strengthen  the  policy 

(8) 

‘Green  public  procurement  second  national  action  plan’  is  a 
course  offered  to  members  of  the  public  service  outlining  the 
values of green public procurement and the duty of the public 
them 
service 

uphold 

to 

2025 priority action 

• 

Speed  up  the  transition  to  a  circular  economy  by 
implementing an updated national strategy and the 
EU  framework  and  recommendations,  in  particular 
to  complement 
it  with  upstream  circularity 
measures 

Waste management 

Turning waste into a resource is supported by: 

(i)  addressing  the  full  life  cycle  of  products,  from 
conception to end of life, by setting requirements on 
the design of products to ensure that they are more 
sustainable; 

(ii)  fully 

implementing  EU  waste  legislation,  which 
includes  the  waste  hierarchy,  the  obligation  to 
landfill 
ensure  separate  collection  of  waste, 
diversion targets, etc.; 

(iii)  reducing  waste  generation  per  capita  and 

in 

absolute terms; 

(iv)  increasing  the  recycling  rates  of  waste  containing 
critical raw materials (CRMs), with a view to reducing 
dependencies  and  building  resilient  value  chains, 
and stimulating demand for recycled  content  in all 
products; 
limiting energy recovery to non-recyclable materials; 
and 

(v) 

(vi)  phasing  out  landfilling  of  recyclable  or  recoverable 

waste. 

One of the main objectives of EU waste law is to decouple 
economic growth from its environmental impacts.  

The EU’s approach to waste management is based on the 
waste  treatment  hierarchy:  prevention,  preparing  for 
reuse,  recycling,  recovery  and,  as  the  least  preferred 
option,  disposal 
landfilling  and 
includes 
incineration without energy recovery). 

(which 

All legislative proposals in the field of waste management 
put forward by the Commission since 2021 are intended 
to encourage Member States to promote better product 
design,  to  require  producers  to  cover  the  costs  of 
managing the waste resulting from their products and to 
ensure that waste is managed at the higher levels of the 
waste hierarchy.  

The  total  amount  of  waste  generated  in  Malta  has 
doubled  over  the  last  12 years  (Figure 3),  and  it  seems 

(https://sustainabledevelopment.gov.mt/wp-
content/uploads/2024/10/Green-Public-Procurement-National-
Action-Plan-2022-2027.pdf).  

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
that both economic growth and population growth could 
have triggered this development. This trend is primarily 
driven  by  the  largest  waste  category,  namely  mineral 
waste from construction and demolition due to excessive 
construction  on  the  islands.  Ferrous  metal  waste  is 
another  primary  driver  of  the  increase  in  total  waste 
once  major  mineral  waste  is  excluded.  Malta’s  GDP 
showed a steady growth until 2019 but dropped in 2020, 
probably  due  to  the  COVID-19  outbreak.  There  are  no 
clear indications of decoupling of waste generation from 
economic growth. 

Figure 3:  Generation  of  waste  (total  and  excluding 
major mineral waste), population and GDP, 2010–2022 

NB: Waste generation data for odd years are interpolated. 

accessed 

income)’, 

15 October 

nama_10_gdp, 

Sources:  Eurostat,  ‘GDP  and  main  components  (output,  expenditure 
and 
2024, 
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/nama_10_gdp__cu
stom_9301905/default/table; Eurostat, ‘Generation of waste by waste 
category,  hazardousness  and  NACE  Rev. 2  activity’,  env_wasgen,  last 
updated 
2024, 
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasgen/defaul
t/table?lang=en; Eurostat, ‘Population change – Demographic balance 
and  crude  rates  at  national  level’,  demo_grind,  accessed  15 October 
2024, 
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/demo_gind/default
/table?lang=en&category=demo.demo_ind. 

30 September 

22 October 

accessed 

2024, 

Critical raw materials 

Currently, Malta’s waste management plan lacks a CRM 
strategy. Malta has not provided to the Commission any 
information on policies to increase the recycling rates of 
waste containing CRMs. 

(9) 

(10) 

European Commission: Joint Research Centre, Cristóbal García, 
J.,  Caro,  D.  et  al.,  Techno-economic  and  environmental 
assessment of construction and demolition waste management 
in  the  European  Union,  Publications  Office  of  the  European 
Union, 
2024, 
Luxembourg, 
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC135
470. 
European Commission: Directorate-General for Internal Market, 
Industry,  Entrepreneurship  and  SMEs,  EU  Construction  & 
Demolition Waste Management Protocol including guidelines for 
pre-demolition  and  pre-renovation  audits  of  construction 
works –  Updated  edition  2024,  Publications  Office  of  the 
2024, 
Union, 
European 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-
/publication/d63d5a8f-64e8-11ef-a8ba-
01aa75ed71a1/language-en. 

Luxembourg, 

Malta  7 

Construction and demolition waste 

Construction and demolition waste accounts for almost 
40 % of all waste generated in the EU. A recent study (9) 
by  the  Joint  Research  Centre  shows  that  preparing  for 
reuse  and  recycling  operations  are  preferred  over 
incineration  and 
landfilling  from  an  environmental 
perspective  for  most  of  the  different  streams  of 
construction  and  demolition  waste.  However,  the 
economics  are  often  unfavourable  for  preparing  for 
reuse  and  recycling  compared  with  incineration  and 
landfilling. If available technology were to be applied, it 
is estimated that the increase in preparing for reuse and 
recycling  would 
lead  to  an  additional  33 Mt  of 
greenhouse gas (GHG) emission savings annually (more 
than, for example, the combined annual GHG emissions 
of Estonia, Latvia and Luxembourg). 

The  preparing  for  reuse  and  recycling  rate  of  mineral 
construction and demolition waste in Malta in 2022 was 
67.3 %,  compared  with  the  EU  average  of  79.8 %. 
Measures to further increase the preparing for reuse and 
recycling  rate  of  construction  and  demolition  waste 
include  separate  collection  at  source,  for 
instance 
through  digitalised  pre-demolition  audits (10)  (‘resource 
assessments’); EPR and other economic instruments; and 
upstream  measures  such  as  increasing  the  recycled 
content 
in  construction  products  and  the  circular 
design (11) of construction works. 

The  construction  and  demolition  waste  strategy  for 
Malta  2021–2030 (12) 
the 
construction industry to reduce the amount of waste and 
encourage  better  separation  of  waste  streams,  thus 
boosting the secondary materials market. 

includes  standards 

for 

Boosting 
Warning Report 

implementation –  the  2023  Waste  Early 

This  section  focuses  on  the  management  of  municipal 
waste  and  packaging  waste (13),  for  which  EU  law  sets 
mandatory  recycling 
the 
targets. 
the  Waste  Early  Warning 
Commission  published 

June  2023, 

In 

(11) 

(12) 

design, 

European  Commission,  Circular  Economy –  Principles 
buildings 
https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/39984. 
https://era.org.mt/construction-and-demolition-waste-
strategy-for-malta-2021-2030-managing-construction-
demolition-resources/. 

Brussels, 

for 
2020, 

(13)  Municipal  waste  consists  of  (i)  mixed  waste  and  separately 
including  paper  and 
collected  waste 
from  households, 
cardboard,  glass,  metals,  plastics,  biowaste,  wood,  textiles, 
packaging,  waste  electrical  and  electronic  equipment,  waste 
batteries  and  accumulators,  and  bulky  waste, 
including 
mattresses  and  furniture;  and  (ii)  mixed  waste  and  separately 
collected waste from other sources, where such waste is similar 
in nature and composition to waste from households (Directive 
2008/98/EC, Article 3.2b). 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
in  waste 
identifying  the  general  trends 
Report (14) 
management and the Member States at risk  of missing 
2025  waste  targets  (see  Figure 4).  Malta  is  at  risk  of 
missing  both  the  municipal  waste  and  the  packaging 
waste  targets.  Malta  is  also  at  risk  of  not  meeting  the 
2035  target  of  a  maximum  of  10 %  of  municipal  waste 
being landfilled (15). 

Figure 4:  Member  States’  prospects  of  meeting  the 
preparing for reuse and recycling targets for municipal 
waste and packaging waste 

 Member  States  not  at  risk  of  missing  the  55 % 
preparing  for  reuse  and  recycling  target  for 
municipal waste and the 65 % recycling target for 
packaging waste 

 Member States at risk of missing the preparing for 
reuse and recycling target for municipal waste but 
not  at  risk  of  missing  the  recycling  target  for 
packaging waste 

 Member States at risk of missing both targets 

 Outside coverage 

Source: European Environment Agency (EEA), ‘Many EU Member States 
not  on  track  to  meet  recycling  targets  for  municipal  waste  and 
packaging waste’, briefing No 28/2022, Copenhagen, 2023. Reference 
data © ESRI.  

Under  certain  conditions,  EU  waste  legislation  allows 
Member States to postpone the deadlines for reaching 

(14) 

(15) 

https://environment.ec.europa.eu/publications/waste-early-
warning-report_en. 
European Topic Centre on Circular Economy and Resource Use 
(ETC/CE), 2022. ETC Circular economy and resource use (ETC CE) 
— Eionet Portal 

(16)  Directive  2008/98/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  of  19  November  2008  on  waste  and  repealing  certain 
Directives, Directive - 2008/98 - EN - Waste framework directive 
- EUR-Lex. 

Malta  8 

certain  waste  management  targets  for  municipal  and 
packaging  waste.  Member  States  that  want  to  use  this 
possibility  must  notify  the  Commission  24 months  in 
advance of the deadline and submit an implementation 
plan  laying  down  the  steps  they  envisage  to  reach  the 
postponed  targets  within  a  new  time  frame.  Regarding 
the 2025 targets, 11 Member States, not including Malta, 
have used this prerogative. 

In December 2023, Malta notified the Commission of its 
intention  to  postpone  the  municipal  waste  and 
packaging waste targets for plastic and paper/cardboard. 
The  Commission  found  that  the  preconditions  to 
postpone the packaging targets were not complied with 
and  did  not  accept  the  postponement.  As  regards 
municipal  waste,  the  main  measures 
in  Malta’s 
implementation plan are the setting up of separation of 
organic  and  recyclable  waste  and  the  introduction  of 
deposit-return  and  pay-as-you-throw  schemes. 
In 
November  2024,  Malta  notified  the  Commission  of  its 
intention  to  renounce  to  its  right  of  postponement, 
thereby  confirming  its  commitment  to  achieving  the 
targets laid down in article 11.2 of the Waste Framework 
Directive and article 6.1 of the Packaging and Packaging 
Waste Directive. 

In  the  Waste  Early  Warning  Report,  the  Commission 
recommended  that  Member  States  accelerate  their 
efforts  to  improve  their  recycling  performance.  The 
Commission is, on one hand, working together with the 
national  authorities  and  stakeholders  to  speed  up  the 
implementation  of  measures  necessary  to  meet  the 
targets,  including  through  dedicated  financing.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Commission  is  pursuing  enforcement 
actions against those Member States that, based on data 
submitted to the Commission, do not achieve the targets 
of the Waste Framework Directive (16), the Packaging and 
Packaging  Waste  Directive  (17)  and  the  Directive  on 
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (18). 

Malta  set  up  new  infrastructures  to  enhance  recycling 
capabilities, such as the Multi-Material Recovery Facility 
(inaugurated  in  June  2023)  and  the  Material  Recovery 
Facility (inaugurated in March 2023). Furthermore, a new 
automated  glass-sorting  line  also  started  operating  in 
2024,  leading  to  an  increased  operational  capacity  and 
better  glass  output  material.  At  the  heart  of  the 
government’s long-term vision is the ambitious Ecohive 
complex,  which  includes  a  190 00 t  waste-to-energy 

(18) 

(17)  European  Parliament  and  Council  Directive  94/62/EC  of  20 
December  1994  on  packaging  and  packaging  waste  (OJ  L  365, 
31/12/1994, p. 10–23), Directive - 94/62 - EN - EUR-Lex.  
Directive  2012/19/EU  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  of  4 July  2012  on  waste  electrical  and  electronic 
equipment  (WEEE)  (OJ  L 197,  24.7.2012,  p. 38),  Directive  - 
2012/19 
-  EUR-Lexhttps://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:32012L0019. 

-  EN 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
plant, a 74 000 t organic processing plant and a 47 000 t 
skip  management  facility  to  divert  bulky  waste  from 
landfilling (19). 

Figure 6: Recycling (including preparation for reuse) and 
landfill rates (%), 2010–2022 

Malta  9 

Municipal waste 

Municipal waste generation in Malta has stagnated over 
the  past  few  years  (Figure 5).  In  2022,  the  country 
generated 618 kg per capita of municipal waste, which is 
significantly  above  the  estimated  EU-27  average  of 
513 kg per capita in the same year. 

Figure 5:  Municipal  waste  management  and  recycling 
(including preparation for reuse), 2010–2022 

NB: From reference year 2020, new reporting rules apply for calculating 
recycled  municipal  waste  pursuant  to  the  targets  set  out  in  Article 
11.2(c–e) of Directive 2008/98/EC. Despite its efforts to implement the 
new reporting rules, Malta is finding it particularly challenging to obtain 
accurate  data  on  the  actual  amount  of  waste  entering  the  recycling 
process due to its reliance on exporting waste for recycling. 

NB: From reference year 2020, new reporting rules apply for calculating 
in 
recycled  municipal  waste  pursuant  to  the  targets  set  out 
Article 11.2(c–e)  of  Directive  2008/98/EC.  Despite 
its  efforts  to 
implement  the  new  reporting  rules,  Malta  is  finding  it  particularly 
challenging  to  obtain  accurate  data  on  the  actual  amount  of  waste 
entering the recycling process due to its reliance on exporting waste for 
recycling 

Source: Eurostat, ‘Municipal waste by waste management operations’, 
env_wasmun, 
2024, 
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/ENV_WASMUN/def
ault/table. 

22 October 

accessed 

Source: Eurostat, ‘Municipal waste by waste management operations’, 
env_wasmun, 
2024, 
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/ENV_WASMUN/def
ault/table. 

22 October 

accessed 

Malta  has  shown  very  low  rates  of  preparing  for  reuse 
and recycling of municipal waste over the past few years 
(Figure 6). In 2022, the preparing for reuse and recycling 
rate for municipal waste was 13 %, which is significantly 
below the estimated EU-27 average of 49 % in the same 
year, and which has not improved in the last decade. This 
recycling rate is entirely driven by materials recycling, as 
biowaste  after  treatment  is  used  for  landscaping  and 
landfill remediation (20) and is consequently reported as 
landfilled. 

Incineration  of  municipal  waste  plays  a  minor  role  in 
Malta; only 1.3 % of the municipal waste generated was 
incinerated 
is  the  dominant 
treatment  method in Malta and the landfilling rate  has 
remained relatively stable. 

in  2022.  Landfilling 

Packaging waste 

Malta’s packaging waste generation increased between 
2010 and 2022 (Figure 7). In 2022, the country generated 
167 kg  per  capita  of  packaging  waste,  which  is  slightly 
below  the  estimated  European  average  of  186 kg  per 
capita in the same year (21). 

Figure 7: Packaging waste generation, 2010–2022 

ERA, 2024. ERA - Environment and Resources Authority 
(19) 
(20)  Wasteserv, 2022; EEA, Early warning assessment related to the 
2025 targets for municipal waste and packaging waste – Malta, 
2022, 
Copenhagen, 

(21) 

https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/many-eu-member-
states/malta/view. 
The EU average might have been influenced by not all Member 
States fully applying the reporting rules for packaging waste set 
out in Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/665. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
Malta  10 

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/ENV_WASPAC__cus
tom_842634/default/table?lang=en. 

Malta’s  overall  packaging  waste  recycling  rate  has 
fluctuated over the years. In 2022 it was 32 % (Figure 8), 
and overall it has not improved in the past decade. These 
annual fluctuations are influenced by the fact that Malta 
relies on exports for recycling and keeps sorted waste in 
temporary storage until there is enough to export. The 
overall packaging waste recycling rate is mainly driven by 
paper and cardboard packaging waste, as this constitutes 
the  largest  stream  of  all  packaging  waste  generated. 
However, the recycling rate for paper and cardboard has 
decreased  over  the  past  few  years,  although  this  has 
been  countered  by  a  significant 
in  glass 
packaging waste recycling. From the reference year 2020 
onwards, it is mandatory to report steel and aluminium 
packaging separately. In 2022, the recycling rates of both 
types of packaging were below the 2025 target. 

increase 

Policies to encourage waste prevention 

Waste  management  plans  and  waste  prevention 
programmes are instrumental to the full implementation 
of EU waste legislation. They set out key provisions and 
investments to ensure compliance with existing and new 
legal  requirements  (e.g.  on  waste  prevention,  on 
separate  collection  for  certain  waste  streams,  on 
recycling and on landfill targets). 

The  national  waste  management  plan  of  Malta,  called 
the  long-term  waste  management  plan  2021–2030 (22), 
covers the territory of Malta and includes the new waste 
prevention  programme.  It  was  published  in  September 
2021.  The  objectives  of  the  new  waste  prevention 
programme and the MECP are to: 

• 

• 

• 

promote  resource  efficiency  and  reduce  waste 
generation across sectors; 
create circular opportunities through repair services 
and secondary markets; 
provide  economic  incentives  to  encourage  waste 
prevention and reuse initiatives. 

The  priority  waste  streams  for  prevention  are  food 
waste, packaging waste, paper waste, single-use plastics, 
textile waste, waste electrical and electronic equipment, 
and  construction  and  demolition  waste (23).  Waste 
prevention  measures  for  priority  waste  streams  will 
focus  on  public  awareness  campaigns  and 
the 
introduction of economic incentives (24). 

NB:  From  reference  year  2020,  the  rules  for  calculating  recycled 
packaging  waste  have  changed,  pursuant  to  Article  6a  of  Directive 
94/62/EC.  Malta  has  applied  the  new  reporting  rules since  reference 
year 2020 (Eurostat, 2024a). However, despite its efforts to implement 
the new reporting rules, Malta is finding it particularly challenging to 
obtain  accurate  data  on  the  actual  amount  of  waste  entering  the 
recycling process due to its reliance on exporting waste for recycling.  

Source: Eurostat, ‘Packaging waste by waste management operations’, 
env_waspac, last updated 23 October 2024, accessed 28 October 2024, 
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/ENV_WASPAC__cus
tom_842634/default/table?lang=en. 

Figure 8:  Packaging  waste  recycling  rates  (%),  2010–
2022 

NB:  From  reference  year  2020,  the  rules  for  calculating  recycled 
packaging  waste  have  changed,  pursuant  to  Article  6a  of  Directive 
94/62/EC.  Malta  has  applied  the  new  reporting  rules since  reference 
year 2020 (Eurostat, 2024a). However, despite its efforts to implement 
the new reporting rules, Malta is finding it particularly challenging to 
obtain  accurate  data  on  the  actual  amount  of  waste  entering  the 
recycling process due to its reliance on exporting waste for recycling.  

Source: Eurostat, ‘Packaging waste by waste management operations’, 
env_waspac, last updated 23 October 2024, accessed 28 October 2024, 

(22)  MECP, 2021. 
(23) 

EEA, 2023. 

(24)  MECP, 2021. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
Malta  11 

Policies to encourage separate collection and recycling 

Policies to discourage landfilling or incineration 

From  1 January  2023  waste  collection  has  been 
organised  at  the  regional  level  rather  than  at  the  local 
council level. Regional councils have to make information 
on their recycling performance, the selection procedures 
for waste operators  and the costs charged to  producer 
responsibility  organisations  publicly  available.  Producer 
responsibility  organisations  also  offer  a  specific 
collection  service  to  producers  that  put  transport 
packaging on the market (25). Malta has a high coverage 
of  door-to-door  separate  collection  complemented  by 
low-density  recycling  points  and  civic  amenity  sites 
mainly  targeted  towards  municipal  packaging  waste. 
Even  though  biowaste  has  been  separately  collected 
door  to  door  since  2018 (26)  and  garden  waste  can  be 
dropped  off  at  civic  amenity  sites,  the  treatment  of 
organic waste in Malta does not qualify as recycling (27). 

In  November  2022,  Malta 
launched  a  nationwide 
deposit-return  system  for  certain  beverage  containers 
made  of  polyethylene  terephthalate,  aluminium,  steel 
and glass in line with the  national  Beverage Containers 
Recycling  Regulations (28).  Data  for  2023  indicate  that 
78 %  of  the  beverage  containers  placed  on  the  market 
were collected through the deposit-return system, while 
the recycling rate was 74 % relative to the total number 
of containers placed on the market (29). 

In  Malta,  there  is  an  EPR  system  covering  packaging 
waste from both household and non-household sources 
for  all  packaging  materials  without  advanced  fee 
modulation based on recyclability. There is no packaging 
tax in place (30). 

Malta  has  neither  a 
landfill  tax  nor  a  tax  on 
incineration (31),  as  it  chose  to  establish  differentiated 
gate  fees  for  different  waste  streams.  The  landfill  gate 
fee  for  1 t  of  mixed  waste  deposited  in  landfills  is 
progressively 
from  EUR 40  to  EUR 120 
increasing 
between 2023 and 2027. 

Malta  has  not  made  progress  in  developing  sufficient 
infrastructure  for  the  recycling  of  waste,  particularly 
biowaste.  Therefore,  the  recommendations  from  the 
2023 Waste Early Warning Report are reiterated. 

2025 priority actions  

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Improve  separate  collection  at  source  e.g.  through 
economic  instruments,  investing  in  infrastructure 
for  separate  collection,  sorting  and  recycling,  and 
increasing public awareness. 
Improve municipal waste preparation for reuse and 
recycling.  Increase  the  recycling  rates  of  packaging 
waste. 
Increase  the  collection  and  recycling  rate  of  waste 
electronic and electric equipment (WEEE). 
Invest in waste prevention measures to reduce the 
total amount of waste generated. 
Implement  and  expand 
the  pay-as-you-throw 
system  for  businesses  and  households.  Ensure  the 
achievement  of  the  2025  waste  targets,  following 
the  recommendations  made  by  the  Commission  in 
the Early Warning Reports where applicable. 

(25) 
(26) 
(27) 
(28) 

ETC/CE, 2022. 
EC, 2022. 
ETC/CE, 2022. 
Subsidiary 
https://legislation.mt/eli/sl/549.134/20211231/eng. 

Legislation 549.134, 

3 July 

(29) 
(30) 
(31) 

ERA, 2024. 
ETC/CE, 2022. 
ETC/CE, 2022. 

2020, 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
2. Biodiversity and natural capital 

Global and EU biodiversity frameworks

Malta  12 

Biological  diversity  and  healthy  ecosystems  are  critical 
for our societies, underpin our economies and well-being 
and  are  essential  for  climate  change  adaptation  and 
mitigation.  The  Kunming–Montreal  global  biodiversity 
framework  (GBF),  adopted  in  December  2022,  sets 
comprehensive  and  measurable  targets  to  tackle 
biodiversity  loss  by  2030.  To  implement  this  global 
framework and integrate biodiversity considerations into 
national decision-making, the EU – as well as all Member 
States –  had  to  submit  national  biodiversity  strategies 
and action plans (NBSAPs), or to communicate national 
targets  aligned  with  the  global  targets,  by  the  end  of 
2024. The EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 (BDS) aims to 
put EU biodiversity on a path to recovery by 2030. It sets 
quantified targets intended to protect and restore nature 
and manage ecosystems in a sustainable manner, as well 
as  measures 
and 
commitments  to  support  global  biodiversity.  A  BDS 
actions  tracker (32)  and  a  dashboard  of  indicators (33) 
implementation  progress.  
provide 
The 
EU  Nature  Restoration 
Regulation (34) is the first EU-wide, comprehensive law of 
its kind and a key instrument for the EU to deliver on the 
global  biodiversity  targets  for  2030.  It  lays  down  an 
overarching  objective  at  the  EU  level  to  put  in  place 
effective  restoration  measures  on  20 %  of  EU  land  and 
sea by 2030 and for all ecosystems in need of restoration 
by  2050.  To  achieve  this,  it  sets  binding  targets  for 
Member States to restore and maintain ecosystems, as 
well as an effective implementation framework based on 
national restoration plans. 

information  on 
adopted 

implementation 

recently 

enable 

to 

The BDS is the main instrument used by the EU to deliver 
on  its  obligation  under  the  GBF.  The  Commission  has 
submitted  to  the  Convention  on  Biological  Diversity  its 
report on GBF-aligned EU targets that stem from the BDS 
and from other policy instruments under the European 
Green Deal. 

Member  States’  NBSAPs  need  to  provide  coherent 
frameworks  for  national  delivery  on  the  global  and  EU 

(32) 

(33) 

(34) 

Actions 

Tracker 

Strategy 

Strategy 

Biodiversity 

Biodiversity 

EU 
(https://dopa.jrc.ec.europa.eu/kcbd/actions-tracker/). 
EU 
(https://dopa.jrc.ec.europa.eu/kcbd/EUBDS2030-
dashboard/?version=1). 
Regulation (EU) 2024/1991 of the European Parliament and of 
the Council of 24 June 2024 on nature restoration and amending 
Regulation  (EU)  2022/869  (OJ  L,  2024/1991,  29.7.2024), 
the 
http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1991/oj; 
law 
on 
Commission 

see  also 
the 

Dashboard 

page 

web 

In 

2030  biodiversity  targets. 
line  with  the  global 
obligations,  NBSAPs  should  also  include  a  biodiversity 
financing  plan  and  a  capacity-building  plan,  based  on 
needs  assessments,  as  well  as  an  overview  of  the 
national indicators used to measure progress. 

Drawing  on a review of  its  first NBSAP  to 2020,  the  EU 
and global biodiversity targets for 2030 and a whole-of-
society  and  whole-of-government  approach,  Malta 
adopted its revised NBSAP to 2030 (35) on 19 September 
2024. It establishes a strategic framework of 22 targets 
and  79  actions  to  be  delivered  by  2030  in  five  policy 
areas: (i) conserving and restoring nature; (ii) addressing 
the  drivers  of  biodiversity  loss;  (iii)  using  biodiversity 
sustainably;  (iv)  mainstreaming  and  awareness  raising; 
and  (v)  enhancing  implementation  and  cooperation. 
National  targets  are  set  in  relation  to  protected  areas, 
ecosystem  restoration,  genetic  diversity,  invasive  alien 
species  (IAS),  climate  change,  pollution,  sustainable 
agriculture and fisheries, biotechnology, mainstreaming 
of  biodiversity  in  the  public  and  private  sectors,  and 
education and public awareness, amongst other things. 
Malta  has  also  uploaded  its  national  targets  into  the 
Convention  on  Biological  Diversity’s  online  reporting 
tool (36). 

The EU aims to allocate to biodiversity objectives at least 
7.5 % of annual spending under the EU budget in 2024, 
in  2026  and  2027.  For  details  on 
rising  to  10 % 
biodiversity  financing  and  investments  in  Malta,  see 
Chapter 5. 

At the international level, Malta has neither signed nor 
ratified  the  Nagoya–Kuala  Lumpur  Supplementary 
Protocol to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Neither 
has  it  ratified  the  International  Convention  for  the 
Regulation of Whaling. 

Nature protection and restoration – Natura 
2000 

Natura  2000 (37),  the  largest  coordinated  network  of 

(35) 

(https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/nature-and-
biodiversity/nature-restoration-law_en). 
Environment  and  Resources  Authority,  National  Biodiversity 
Strategy and Action Plan to 2030, 2024, https://era.org.mt/wp-
content/uploads/2024/09/NBSAP-to-
2030_final_compressed.pdf. 
https://ort.cbd.int/national-targets?countries=mt. 

(36) 
(37)  Natura  2000  comprises  sites  of  community  importance  (SCIs), 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
Malta  13 

protected areas in the world, is key to the achievement 
of  the  objectives  set  out  in  the  Birds  and  Habitats 
Directives. These objectives are to ensure the long-term 
protection,  conservation  and  survival  of  Europe’s  most 
valuable  and  threatened  species  and  habitats  and  the 
ecosystems  they  underpin.  Key  milestones  towards 
meeting  the  objectives  of  the  Birds  and  Habitats 
Directives  are  (i)  the  setting  up  of  a  complete  and 
coherent  Natura  2000  network;  (ii)  the  designation  of 
sites of community importance (SCIs) as special areas of 
conservation (SACs) (38); and (iii)  effective management 
of  all  Natura  2000  sites  through  the  setting  of  site-
specific conservation objectives and measures. 

Setting up a complete and coherent network of Natura 
2000 sites 

The  setting  up  of  a  complete  and  coherent  network  of 
Natura  2000  sites 
is  a  cornerstone  of  the  EU’s 
international commitments, under the BDS and GBF, to 
legally  protect  a  minimum  of  30 %  of  its  land  area  and 
30 % of its sea area. 

types.  Further  scientific  studies  need  to  be  undertaken 
on  at  least  two  habitat  types (40)  to  yield  the  relevant 
scientific information – including on the continental shelf 
extending more than 25 NM from the Maltese coast. This 
would  enable  an  informed  choice  to  be  made  as  to 
whether Malta should propose additional SCIs. Malta has 
reported  that  the  required  scientific  studies  are  under 
way,  with  public  calls  in  progress.  Meanwhile,  an 
infringement case is open on this matter. 

Considering  both  areas  covered  by  Natura  2000  and 
other  nationally  designated  protected  areas,  Malta 
legally  protects  28.7 %  of  its  terrestrial  areas  (EU-27 
average:  26.1 %)  and  5.5 %  of  marine  areas  (EU-27: 
average  12.3 %) (41).  In  2020,  the  Commission  initiated 
infringement  proceedings  against  Malta  for  failure  to 
complete  the  designation  of  Natura  2000  sites  on  its 
islands. 

Figure 9:  Natura  2000  terrestrial  protected  area 
coverage per Member State (%), 2023 

the 

these 

requires 

commitments 

Meeting 
full 
implementation of Article 3 of the Habitats Directive. The 
Natura 2000 network should represent a  complete and 
coherent  ecological network composed of sites hosting 
natural habitat types and species of community interest. 
The  Natura  2000  network  enables  the  natural  habitat 
types  and  the  species’  habitats  concerned  to  be 
maintained  or,  where  appropriate,  restored  to  a 
favourable conservation status in their natural range. 

Malta hosts 29 habitat types and 66 species covered by 
the  Habitats  Directive.  The  country  also  hosts 
populations of 31 bird taxa listed in the Birds Directive 
Annex I (39). 

As  shown  in  Figure 9,  in  2023,  13.3 %  of  the  terrestrial 
territory of Malta was covered by Natura 2000 sites (EU 
average:  18.6 %),  with  special  protection  areas  (SPAs) 
classified  under  the  Birds  Directive  covering  5.1 %  (EU 
average: 12.8 %), and SCIs under the Habitats Directive 
covering 13 % (EU average: 14.3 %) of Malta’s territory. 

The latest assessment of the SCI part of the Natura 2000 
network  shows  that  there  are  insufficiencies  in  the 
Maltese designation of protected sites for marine habitat 

designated pursuant to the Habitats Directive, as well as special 
protection  areas  (SPAs),  classified  pursuant  to  the  Birds 
Directive. Numbers of protected areas in Figure 9 do not add up 
to  the  total  of  SCIs  plus  SPAs,  because  some  SCIs  and  SPAs 
overlap. A special area of conservation (SAC) is an SCI designated 
by a Member State. 
SCIs are designated pursuant to the Habitats Directive, whereas 
SPAs are designated pursuant to the Birds Directive. Figures of 
coverage do not add up because some SCIs and SPAs overlap. 
European Environment Agency (EEA), ‘Number of habitats and 
species per Member State’, Article 17 dashboard, 19 December 

(38) 

(39) 

Source: European Environment Agency (EEA), ‘Natura 2000 Barometer’, 
2023  data,  accessed  March  2025,  https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-
and-maps/dashboards/natura-2000-barometer. 

Designating special areas of conservation and setting 
site-specific conservation objectives and measures 

To  ensure  that  SCIs  contribute  to  the  objectives  of  the 
Habitats Directive, Member States must designate them 
as  SACs,  setting  site-specific  conservation  objectives 
based on the ecological needs of the species and habitats 
present  on  the  sites.  Such  site-specific  conservation 

2019,  https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/biodiversity/state-
of-nature-in-the-eu/article-17-national-summary-
dashboards/general-information-on-habitats-and-species. 
1170  ‘reefs’  and  8330  ‘submerged  or  partially  submerged  sea 
caves’. 

(40) 

(41) 

Eurostat dataset env_bio4, 12 March 2025 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
objectives  should  define  attributes  and  targets  that 
describe the habitats’ or species’ condition as favourable 
or unfavourable. Under Article 6 of the Habitats Directive 
Member States must establish and implement measures 
to achieve these objectives. 

All  sites  subject  to  the  six-year  deadline  set  by  the 
Habitats Directive to designate SCIs as SACs and draw up 
conservation  objectives  and  measures  have  been 
designated.  Site-specific  conservation  objectives  and 
measures have been drawn up for 34 terrestrial and 18 
marine Natura 2000 sites (27 terrestrial SACs and 14 SPAs 
with  management  plans /  conservation  orders,  and  10 
marine  SACs  and  8  marine  SPAs  established  in  a 
document  named 
‘Conservation  objectives  and 
measures for Malta’s marine Natura 2000 sites’). Some 
SACs and SCIs overlap completely or partially with SPAs. 

is 

conservation  objectives 

For  the  terrestrial  Natura  2000  sites,  the  quality  of  the 
set 
insufficient.  The 
conservation objectives that have been drawn up appear 
too generic and are therefore not suitable to serve as the 
required  conservation  measures.  These  conservation 
measures are sometimes not described with a sufficient 
level of detail, and do not cover all habitats and species 
for  which  the  sites  have  been  designated.  The 
management  plans  for  19  of  the  terrestrial  sites  were 
adopted in 2016 and had a timeframe of five years. Malta 
is  currently  in  the  process  of  reviewing  the  existing 
objectives  and  measures,  ensuring  that  they  are  based 
on  the  ‘specific,  measurable,  achievable,  relevant  and 
time-bound’  model  in  accordance  with  the  guidance 
provided by the Commission. 

Site-specific conservation objectives and measures have 
been set for marine Natura 2000 sites. The Commission 
is  currently  assessing  the  conservation  objectives  and 
measures for the marine SACs and SPAs. 

2025 priority actions 

• 
• 

Complete the Natura 2000 site designation process. 
Ensure the effective implementation of Natura 2000 
management  plans  and  sufficient  administrative 
capacity and financing both for Natura 2000 and the 
implementation  of 
the  Nature  Restoration 
Regulation.  Ensure  implementation  of  Prioritised 
Actions Framework 2021-2027 (PAFs). 

Recovery of species 

One  objective  set  by  the  BDS  is  that,  by  2030,  there 
should be no further deterioration in conservation trends 
or  the  status  of  any  protected  species.  The  BDS  also 

(42) 

EEA, State of Nature in the EU: Results from reporting under the 
Nature  Directives  2013–2018,  Publications  Office  of  the 
2020, 
European 

Luxembourg, 

Union, 

Malta  14 

states  that  Member  States  should  ensure  that  at  least 
30 % of species not currently in favourable conservation 
status  achieve  that  status  or  show  progress  towards 
doing so (e.g. by exhibiting positive population dynamics 
or stable or increasing range and habitat size), by 2030. 
According  to  the  European  Environment  Agency  (EEA), 
based  on  reporting  required  under  Article 17  of  the 
Habitats Directive, a quarter of species in the EU were of 
good conservation status as of 2018 (42). 

One of the primary objectives of the Habitats Directive is 
the  maintenance  of  or  restoration  to  favourable 
conservation status of all species of community interest. 
Moreover, the Birds Directive also aims to ensure that all 
wild  birds  in  the  EU  enjoy  a  secure  status.  To  achieve 
these  objectives,  it  will  be  necessary  to  address  key 
pressures  and  threats.  The  Birds  Directive  and  the 
Habitats  Directive  lay  down  a  framework  of  species 
protection rules and rules on the conservation of habitats 
and species to combat these threats. 

According  to  the  2019  Directive  report  submitted  by 
Malta on the conservation status of habitats and species 
covered by the Habitats Directive in accordance with its 
Article 17, the share of species assessed as having good 
conservation status in 2019 was 53.33 %, compared with 
40.38 % in the previous 2013 report covering 2007–2012. 
For  birds,  74 %  of  the  breeding  species  showed  short-
term 
increasing  or  stable  population  trends  (for 
wintering  species  this  figure  was  50 %).  85 %  of  the 
breeding species showed long-term increasing or stable 
population trends (for wintering species this figure was 
56 %). 

At the same time, the share of species assessed as having 
bad  conservation  status  has  slightly  increased  from 
7.69 % to 8.89 %. 

The  main  pressures  causing  this  bad  status  for  species 
are  (i)  development,  construction  and  the  use  of 
residential,  commercial, 
industrial  and  recreational 
infrastructure; and (ii) alien and problematic species. 

Under  Article 17  of  the  Habitats  Directive,  Member 
States are required to report on the conservation status 
of  habitats  and  species  every  six  years.  The  current 
reporting cycle, covering the years 2019 to 2024, is due 
for submission in July 2025. 

https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/state-of-nature-in-
the-eu-2020. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
Figure 10:  Assessments  of  conservation  status  of 
habitats  for  the  2007–2012  and  2013–2018  reporting 
periods 

Malta  15 

status in a Member State may result from changes to methods or use 
of better data, rather than reflecting genuine changes. 

EEA,  ‘Conservation  status  and  trends  of  habitats  and  species’, 
19 December 
2021, 
https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/maps-and-
charts/conservation-status-and-trends-article-17-national-summary-
dashboards-archived. 

December 

accessed 

2019, 

Regarding  species,  there  has  been  an  increase  in  the 
number of species with a favourable conservation status 
and  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  species  with  an 
unfavourable status (43). 

While  more  effort  is  required  in  ensuring  effective 
management  of  the  Natura  2000  sites,  ongoing 
additional resources are being allocated accordingly, and 
conservation  measures  are  being  implemented.  This  is 
achieved 
through  collaboration  between  various 
governmental  and  non-governmental  entities.  There 
seems  to  be  a  lack  of  progress  in  Malta  as  far  as 
maintaining  or  restoring  the  favourable  conservation 
status  of  species  and  habitats  protected  under  the 
Nature  Directives.  There  is  also  a  lack  of  progress  in 
effectively managing the country’s Natura 2000 sites. 

NB:  The  values  shown  for  2007–2012  and  2013–2018  are  not 
necessarily directly comparable because changes in area conservation 
status in a Member State may result from changes to methods or use 
of better data, rather than reflecting genuine changes. 

EEA,  ‘Conservation  status  and  trends  of  habitats  and  species’, 
19 December 
2021, 
https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/maps-and-
charts/conservation-status-and-trends-article-17-national-summary-
dashboards-archived. 

December 

accessed 

2019, 

Figure 11:  Assessments  of  conservation  status  of 
species for the 2007–2012 and 2013–2018 periods 

ruled 

Illegal trapping and killing of protected species remains 
one  of  the  main  challenges  in  Malta  and  a  matter  of 
concern.  In  2018,  the  Court  of  Justice  of  the  European 
Union 
finch-trapping 
against  Malta’s 
derogation (44),  and  Malta  consequently  ended  the 
trapping  of  finches.  However,  in  2020  and  2021,  Malta 
finch-trapping  practices  under  a 
introduced  new 
research  derogation  scheme.  In  November  2021,  the 
Commission  decided (45)  to  continue  the  infringement 
proceedings  for  failure  to  correctly  apply  the  Birds 
finch-
Directive (46).  Nevertheless,  Malta 
trapping  derogations  for  2022  and  2023  as  well.  The 
Court  delivered  its  judgment  on  19 September  2024 
condemning  the  derogation.  The  Commission  remains 
very  concerned  by  the  decision  of  the  Maltese 
government  to authorise a  new derogation scheme  for 
2024 and calls on Malta to discontinue its finch-trapping 
practices,  which  are  not  justified  under  the  Birds 
Directive. 

launched 

NB:  The  values  shown  for  2007–2012  and  2013–2018  are  not 
necessarily directly comparable because changes in area conservation 

In 2020, the Commission launched another infringement 
proceeding  against  Malta  for  its  derogations  from  the 
Birds Directive with regard to the spring hunting of quail 
and  the  autumn  live-capturing  of  song  thrushes  and 

EEA, ‘National summary dashboards – Habitats Directive – 
Art. 17’, 11 May 2023, 
https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/biodiversity/state-of-
nature-in-the-eu/article-17-national-summary-dashboards. 

(43) 

(44)

https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text
=&docid=203222&pageIndex=0&doclang=fr&mode=lst&dir=&o
cc=first&part=1&cid=40300853. 

(45) 

European  Commission,  ‘Nature:  Commission  decides  to  refer 
Malta to the Court of Justice of the European Union over finch 
trapping’,  press 
release,  Brussels,  12 November  2021, 
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_21
_5666. 

(46)  Directive  2009/147/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds 
(OJ  L 20,  26.1.2010,  p. 7),  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32009L0147. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
fall  short 
golden  plovers (47).  These  derogations 
systematically  of  the  requirements  set  out  in  the  Birds 
Directive,  due  to  Malta’s  poor  supervision  of  the 
conditions  set  out  in  the  derogations,  which  results  in 
species  other  than  those  targeted  being  affected.  In 
2022, Malta re-enacted (after a temporary suspension) a 
derogation  allowing  the  recreational  hunting  of  turtle 
doves  during  their  spring  migration  period.  The 
latest 
Commission  considers 
available  data  that  the  population  of  this  species  is 
currently  below  a 
that 
consequently,  no  spring  hunting  derogation  can  be 
lawfully  authorised.  Therefore,  the  derogation  decision 
cannot  constitute  a 
in  terms  of 
Article 9(1)(c) of the Habitats Directive. For this reason, 
in  2023  the  Commission  extended  the  infringement 
proceeding against Malta to cover the spring hunting of 
turtle doves. 

it  apparent  from  the 

‘judicious  use’ 

satisfactory 

level  and 

Malta  has  not  signed  or  ratified  the  Agreement  on  the 
Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds. 

In the 2022 EIR, the Commission delivered the following 
priority actions to Malta, urging the country to  step up 
efforts  on  (i)  the  process  of  designating  Natura  2000 
sites; (ii) completing the management  plans for marine 
sites  with  clearly  defined  conservation  objectives;  (iii) 
implementing the necessary conservation measures for 
all  Natura  2000  sites;  and  (iv)  providing  appropriate 
resources for implementing the Nature Directives in the 
fields  of  species  and  habitats  of  community  interest. 
Finally,  the  Commission  exhorted  Malta  to  take  urgent 
action  on  combating  illegal  bird-hunting  and  trapping 
practices. 

The Commission notes very limited progress in all these 
areas.  In  fact,  implementation  results  in some  of  these 
areas  have  deteriorated  since  the  last  report.  For  this 
reason,  the  Commission  urges  Malta  to  implement 
similar priority actions for 2025 and beyond. 

2025 priority actions 

• 

Strengthen  the  implementation  of  national  anti-
poaching measures. 

•  Reinforce  action 

for  habitats  and  species 

in 
unfavourable  conservation  status,  for  example 
increased 
restoration  measures, 
through 
connectivity,  better  policy  coordination  and 
integration, and increased funding. 

(47) 

European  Commission,  ‘December  infringements  package:  Key 
decisions’, 
2020, 
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/inf_20
_2142.  

3 December 

Brussels, 

Malta  16 

Recovery of ecosystems 

Agricultural ecosystems 

The BDS works alongside the common agricultural policy 
(CAP) to support the transition to sustainable agriculture. 

The  strategy  has  set  five  common  agriculture-related 
targets for 2030, namely to: 

—  reduce by 50 % the overall use of – and risk from – 

chemical pesticides; 

—  reduce  by  50 %  the  use  of  more  hazardous 

pesticides; 

—  reduce  by  50 %  losses  of  nutrients  from  fertilisers 
(which  will result in a  20 % reduction in the use of 
is  no 
fertilisers)  while  ensuring 
deterioration of soil fertility; 

there 

that 

—  restore  at  least  10 %  of  agricultural  area  to  have 

— 

high-diversity landscape features; and 
increase the area under organic farming to at least 
25 %. 

The “Vision for agriculture and food” (48), adopted by the 
European Commission in February 2025, sets a roadmap 
to  an  agri-food  system  that  is  attractive,  competitive, 
sustainable and fair for current and future generations. 
To  ensure  a  sustainable  future  for  EU  agriculture,  it  is 
crucial  that  these  four  priority  areas  are  pursued 
together,  and  that  public  and  private  support  are 
adequately targeted toward this objective. 

The  CAP  and  national  CAP  strategic  plans  (SPs)  are  key 
instruments  to  facilitate  and  strengthen  the  efforts  of 
European  farmers  to  protect  biodiversity  and  the 
environment  at 
large.  The  Commission  approved 
Member  States’  CAP  SPs  in  2022  for  the  programming 
period 2023–2027. CAP is the largest source of funding 
for  the  implementation  of  EU  environment  policy,  and 
this  is  particularly  true  with  regard  to  biodiversity.  SPs 
should  continue  playing  a  key  role  in  the  protection  of 
soil, water, air quality and biodiversity.  

While  certain  result  indicators  focus  on  a  range  of 
interventions favouring sustainable agriculture practices 
that  regenerate  ecosystems,  the 
impact  of  these 
measures  is  difficult  to  assess.  The  uptake  of  the  eco-
schemes is voluntary for farmers. 

The  utilised  agricultural  area  in  Malta  increased  from 
10 250 ha in 2005 to 11 580 ha in 2016 and decreased to 

(48) 

https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/overview-vision-agriculture-
food/vision-agriculture-and-food_en  

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
10 730 ha in 2022 (49). Most agricultural holdings in the 
country cover less than 1 ha. 

‘share  of  agricultural 

Landscape features are fragments of non-productive and 
typically – but not exclusively – semi-natural vegetation 
present in or adjacent to agricultural land. They provide 
ecosystem  services  and  support  for  biodiversity.  The 
indicator 
land  covered  with 
landscape  features’  is  the  ratio  between  the  area 
covered  by  non-productive  landscape  features  and  the 
area  covered  by  agricultural  land.  Based  on  the  Land 
Use/Cover  Area  Frame  Survey 
landscape  features 
estimates, the share of agricultural land covered by non-
productive landscape features in Malta is 27.7 %, above 
the EU average. At the EU level, landscape features cover 
5.6 % of agricultural land. 

In 2024, the CAP basic regulations were amended (50) to 
simplify certain rules, inter alia, the standards for good 
agricultural and environmental condition (GAEC) of land. 
These  changes  removed  the  obligation  for  farmers 
benefiting  from  CAP  area-related  support  to  have  a 
minimum  share  of  3–4 %  of  non-productive  area  or 
landscape  features 
in  their  farms.  However,  the 
amended  regulation  does  not  remove  the  obligation 
under GAEC 8 to maintain existing landscape features. It 
also sets out an obligation for Member States to establish 
and provide support for eco-schemes covering practices 
for  the  maintenance  of  non-productive  areas,  such  as 
land  lying  fallow,  and  for  the  establishment  of  new 
landscape features on arable land. 

The recently adopted Nature Restoration Regulation (51) 
focuses on the restoration of agricultural ecosystems and 
requires  Member  States  to  put  in  place  measures  that 
aim to achieve an increasing trend at the national level 
of  at  least  two  out  of  three  indicators  for  agricultural 
ecosystems (52). One of these indicators is the  ‘share of 
agricultural land with high-diversity landscape features’. 

Organic  farming  practices  are  highly  beneficial  to 
biodiversity. As shown in  Figure 12, it is estimated that 
0.62 % of Malta’s land area is used for organic farming. 

(49) 

(50) 

(51) 

5 December 

Eurostat,  ‘Utilised  agricultural  area  by  categories’,  tag00025, 
accessed 
2024, 
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tag00025/de
fault/table?lang=en. 
Regulation (EU) 2024/1468 of the European Parliament and of 
the  Council  of  14  May  2024  amending  Regulations  (EU) 
2021/2115 and (EU) 2021/2116 as regards good agricultural and 
environmental  condition  standards,  schemes  for  climate, 
environment  and  animal  welfare,  amendment  of  the  CAP 
strategic plans, review of the CAP strategic plans and exemptions 
from  controls  and  penalties  (OJ  L,  2024/1468,  24.5.2024), 
http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1468/oj. 
Regulation  (EU)  2024/1991of  the  European  Parliament  and  of 
the Council of 24 June 2024 on nature restoration and amending 

Malta  17 

This  is  the  worst  result  in  the  EU  and  far  from  the  EU 
average  of  10.50 % (53).  Malta  is  contributing  below 
average  to  achieving  the  target  of  25 %  of  the  EU’s 
agricultural land being used for organic farming by 2030. 
Malta’s action plan for organic food 2023–2030 specifies 
a national target of 5 % of utilised agricultural area being 
converted  to  organic  production  by  2030  and  aims  to 
increase organic aquaculture  by the same year. One of 
the current challenges that could become an opportunity 
is that organic farming in Malta is characterised by land 
holdings that are small, fragmented and scattered. 

Figure 12:  Share  of  total  utilised  agricultural  area 
occupied  by  organic  farming  per  Member  State  (%), 
2022 

Source:  Eurostat,  ‘Area  under  organic  farming’,  sdg_02_40,  accessed 
5 December 
2024, 
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sdg_02_40/default/
table?lang=en. 

2025 priority actions 

• 

• 

(52) 

(53) 

Implement  eco-schemes  and  agri-environmental 
the 
and 
measures 
environmental needs of Malta. 
Implement  and  scale  up  the  uptake  of  organic 
farming practices. 

practices 

address 

to 

in  cropland  mineral  soils’  and 

Regulation  (EU)  2022/869  (OJ  L,  2024/1991,  29.7.2024), 
http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1991/oj. 
The  three  indicators  are  ‘grassland  butterfly  index’,  ‘stock  of 
organic  carbon 
‘share  of 
agricultural land with high-diversity landscape features’. 
This is based on the latest available information from Eurostat, 
which 
is  currently  under  review;  European  Commission, 
Agriculture biologique au sein de l’union européenne, factsheet, 
Brussels, 
2024, 
https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/document/download/c67458e
d-ec50-4762-ae68-341763ab93c2_fr?filename=factsheet-
organic-farning_fr.pdf&prefLang=en. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
Malta  18 

Soil ecosystems 

Soil is an essential, finite and extremely fragile resource. 
Its  increasing  degradation  poses  a  threat  to  EU  food 
resilience,  adaptation  and 
security  and  climate 
mitigation. 

The EU soil strategy, adopted in November 2021, aims to 
support  soil  protection,  sustainable  soil  management 
and  the  restoration  of  degraded  soils  to  achieve  the 
Green  Deal  objectives  as  well  as  land  degradation 
neutrality by 2030. 

The  data  uncertainty  for  Malta  is  high  due  to  low  data 
availability.  Based  on  the  data  available,  the  greatest 
contributor  to  Malta’s  unhealthy  soils  is  unsustainable 
soil  erosion  by  water,  wind,  tillage  and  harvest,  which 
affects  97 %  of  cropland  area.  18 %  of  the  country 
experiences soil sealing above 50 % imperviousness56. 

In the 2022 EIR, Malta was delivered a priority action on 
sealed and artificially modified soil. No progress has been 
recorded since. Hence the priority action is reiterated in 
this report. 

2025 priority action 

This entails: 

—  preventing further soil degradation; 
—  making  sustainable  soil  management  the  new 

normal; 
taking action for ecosystem restoration. 

— 

The  proposed  directive  on  soil  monitoring  and 
resilience (54) aims to introduce the first comprehensive 
legislation on the protection of all soils in the EU. Should 
the  Directive  be  adopted,  Member  States  will  have  to 
transpose  it  into  national  legislation  and  implement  it, 
starting  with  putting  in  place  the  governance  systems 
and a sound monitoring framework building on existing 
national  soil  monitoring  frameworks.  The  objective  of 
the  proposed  directive  is  to  provide  better  and  more 
comparable  soil  health  data  with  the  view  of  attaining 
healthy soils by 2050. 

Degradation  of  soil  ecosystems  encompasses  several 
aspects. The proposed directive requires Member States 
to  assess  soil  health  according  to  a  set  of  common 
indicators  and  to  define  the  necessary  regeneration 
measures. The area of soil that is sealed is an important 
factor in monitoring land-use change and represents an 
important pressure on nature and biodiversity. Other soil 
issues  related  to  land degradation  are  soil  erosion,  soil 
compaction, 
soil 
contamination, soil salinisation and the presence in soil 
of  nitrogen  and  phosphorus  in  excess.  The  impact 
assessment accompanying the proposal, which builds on 
the data available in the EU Soil Observatory, points to 
the following soil degradation issues in Malta (55). 

soil  organic 

loss  of 

carbon, 

(54) 

(55) 

of 

final 

5 July 

2023, 

Proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the 
Council on soil monitoring and resilience (Soil Monitoring Law), 
COM(2023) 416 
https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52023PC0416. 
Commission  staff  working  document –  Impact  assessment 
report: Annexes – Accompanying the proposal for a directive of 
the European Parliament and of the Council on soil monitoring 
and  resilience  (Soil  Monitoring  Law),  SWD(2023) 417  final  of 
5 July 
2023, 
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-

•  Reduce the excessive area of sealed and artificialised 
soil  and  remediate  degraded  areas  of  soil.  If 
appropriate, consider formally committing to targets 
for  land-degradation  neutrality  under  the  relevant 
United 
Combat 
Desertification agreement. 

Convention 

Nations 

to 

Grasslands 

Grasslands  are  among  the  most  diverse  ecosystems  in 
the EU; they can  contain as many as 80 different  plant 
species per square metre and are home to a large variety 
of animals, ranging from small insects, birds and rodents 
to 
for 
large  herbivores.  Grasslands  are  essential 
agriculture and livestock herding. Natural grasslands also 
play  an  important  role  in  storing  carbon.  However, 
changes  in  agricultural  practices  and  land  uses  have 
caused  grasslands  to  disappear  at  an  alarming  rate, 
making  them  one  of  Europe’s  most  threatened 
ecosystems.  Extensively  managed  grasslands  include 
meadows, mountain pastures, dry calcareous grasslands 
and steppic grasslands. 

According  to  the  most  recent  Article 17  report  by 
Malta (57),  100 %  of  grassland  habitat  types  have 
worsened  to  an  unfavourable –  bad  (U2)  conservation 
status,  also  showing  a  prospective  negative  trend.  The 
main pressures are extraction of resources; development 
and  operation  of  transport  systems;  development, 
construction  and  use  of  residential,  commercial, 
industrial and recreational infrastructure; and alien and 
problematic species (58). 

07/IMPACT 
REPORT_ANNEXES_SWD_2023_417_part4.pdf. 

ASSESSMENT 

56       resource.html 
(57) 
(58) 

https://cdr.eionet.europa.eu/mt/eu/art17/envxngv_g. 
EEA,  ‘Main  pressures  and  threats’,  Article 17  dashboard,  last 
updated 
2023, 
https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/maps-and-
charts/main-pressures-and-threats-article-17-national-
summary-dashboards-archived. 

22 August 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
Forest ecosystems 

Forests are important carbon sinks and conserving them 
is vital if the EU is to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. 
The EU forest strategy for 2030, adopted in July 2021, is 
a  plan  of  actions  to  promote  the  many  services  that 
forests  provide.  Its  key  objective  is  to  ensure  healthy, 
diverse  and  resilient  EU 
forests  that  contribute 
significantly to the achievement of the EU’s biodiversity 
and climate ambitions. About 27 % of the forest area in 
the EU is covered by habitat types listed in Annex I to the 
Habitats  Directive.  Moreover,  forests  host  several 
species  protected  under  the  Birds  and  Habitats 
Directives, 
is  a 
requirement  to  designate  Natura  2000  sites  and  to 
protect breeding sites and resting places. 

including  those  for  which  there 

Several Commission guidelines on forestry management 
were  published  in  2023.  They  covered  biodiversity-
friendly  afforestation,  reforestation,  and  tree  planting; 
closer-to-nature  forest  management;  and  defining, 
mapping, monitoring and strictly protecting primary and 
old-growth  forests.  Further  guidance  on  payment 
schemes 
for  ecosystems  services  has  also  been 
published. 

In  2023,  the  Commission  proposed  a  new  forest 
monitoring law (59) that aims to create a comprehensive 
forest  knowledge  base,  address  information  gaps,  and 
enable  a  better  response  to  growing  pressures  on 
forests. 

Forests covered only 1.4 % of Malta’s territory in 2020 (60) 
(EU average: 36.44 %), and their situation is particularly 
worrying,  as  only  a  minority  (17 %)  of  them  show 
favourable conservation status, while  the  rest  continue 
to  show  inadequate  or  bad  status,  in  some  cases  even 
deteriorating (61).  Malta’s  status  as  a  small  low-lying 
exposed insular area, geoclimatic considerations, and the 
dry  semi-arid  climate  all  contribute  to  this  situation, 
which  favours  more  drought-resistant  low-lying  xeric 
habitats.  The  main  pressures  and  threats  for  forest 

(59) 

(60) 

(61) 

(62) 

22 

November 

COM(2023)728, 

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the 
Council  on  a  monitoring  framework  for  resilient  European 
forests, 
2023, 
https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-
register/detail?ref=COM(2023)728&lang=en  
EEA,  forest  information  system  for  Europe,  ‘Countries –  FISE 
country  factsheets’,  forest  information  system  for  Europe 
website, https://forest.eea.europa.eu/countries. 
EEA,  ‘Conservation  status  and  trends  of  habitats  and  species’, 
2021, 
19 December 
https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/maps-and-
charts/conservation-status-and-trends-article-17-national-
summary-dashboards-archived. 
EEA,  ‘Main  pressures  and  threats’,  Article 17  dashboard,  last 
2023, 
updated 
https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/maps-and-
charts/main-pressures-and-threats-article-17-national-
summary-dashboards-archived.  

December 

22 August 

accessed 

2019, 

Malta  19 

habitats  are  by  far  alien  and  problematic  species, 
followed  by  agriculture  and  natural  processes.  Minor 
pressures are exerted by development, construction and 
use  of 
industrial  and 
recreational infrastructure and human-induced changes 
in water regimes (62). 

commercial, 

residential, 

Figure 13:  Conservation  status  of  forests  protected 
under  the  Habitats  Directive  per  Member  State  (%  of 
assessments), 2013–2018 

Source:  

Commission staff working document – New EU forest strategy for 2030, 
SWD(2021) 652  final  of  16 July  2021,  p. 24,  eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52021SC0652. 

.  

The  EU  Timber  Regulation  (EUTR) (63)  prohibits  the 
placing on the EU market of illegally harvested timber.  

(EUDR) (64)  entered 

On  29 June  2023,  the  Regulation  on  Deforestation-free 
Products 
(65).  The 
regulation  seeks  to  guarantee  that  products  in  the  EU 
that  are  made  using  any  of  seven  listed  commodities 
have  no  links  to  deforestation.  The  EUDR  repeals  the 
EUTR.  

force 

into 

(63) 

(64) 

(65) 

Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of 
the  Council  of  20 October  2010  laying  down the  obligations  of 
operators who place timber and timber products on the market 
(OJ  L 295,  12.11.2010,  p. 23),  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32010R0995. 
Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of 
the Council of 31 May 2023 on the making available on the Union 
market and the export  from the Union of certain commodities 
and  products  associated  with  deforestation  and 
forest 
degradation  and  repealing  Regulation  (EU)  No 995/2010  (OJ 
L 150,  9.6.2023,  p. 206),  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32023R1115&qid=1687867231
461. 
The law will apply to large and medium-sized companies starting 
on  December  30,  2025,  and  to  micro  and  small  enterprises 
starting on June 30, 2026. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
in 
Malta  has  not  fulfilled  the  obligations  set  out 
Article 14(1)  and  (2)  of  the  EUDR  to  ‘designate  one  or 
more competent authorities responsible for fulfilling the 
obligations  arising  from  this  regulation  and  inform  the 
Commission thereof at the latest by 30 December 2023’. 
This date remains unchanged, and no additional time is 
envisaged, as it is a key element to prepare the EUDR’s 
smooth entry into application. 

2025 priority actions 

•  Designate  the  competent  authority  responsible  for 
fulfilling the obligations arising from  the EUDR and 
inform  the  Commission  of  the  names,  addresses, 
and contact details of said competent authority. 
Improve conservation status of forests by promoting 
sustainable 
forest  managment  and  ensuring 
compliance  with  the  Habitats  Directive  before 
granting/renewing permits for forest logging. 

• 

Marine ecosystems 

The  Marine  Strategy  Framework  Directive  (MSFD) 
requires Member States to achieve good environmental 
status  (GES)  for  their  marine  waters.  To  that  end, 
Member States must draw up marine strategies for their 
marine waters and cooperate with other Member States 
sharing  the  same  marine  region  or  subregion.  These 
marine  strategies  comprise  different  steps  to  be 
developed and implemented over six-year cycles. 

Since the 2022 EIR report, no additional  data regarding 
Member  States’  set  of  GES  characteristics  for  each 
descriptor 
in  the  MSFD  have  become  available. 
Nevertheless, Member States had to report updates by 
October  2024,  and  these  are  being  assessed  by  the 
Commission. In the context of this round of reporting, in 
accordance  with  the  MSFD  and  the  Commission  GES 
decision (66), Member States must include as part of their 
set  of  GES  characteristics  any  threshold  values  for  the 
descriptors in the MSFD that may have been established 
in  cooperation  with  other  Member  States  at  the  EU  or 
regional level (67). 

The  Commission  assessed  the  updated  monitoring 
programme reported by Member States in 2020 (68). At 

(66) 

(67) 

Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848 of 17 May 2017 laying down 
criteria  and  methodological  standards  on  good  environmental 
status  of  marine  waters  and  specifications  and  standardised 
methods for monitoring and assessment, and repealing Decision 
(OJ  L 125,  18.5.2017,  p. 43),  https://eur-
2010/477/EU 
lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2017/848/oj/eng. 
Communication  from  the  Commission  of  11 March  2024 – 
Commission notice on the threshold values set under the Marine 
Strategy  Framework  Directive 
(Directive 2008/56/EC)  and 
Commission  Decision  (EU) 2017/848  (OJ  C,  C/2024/2078, 
11.3.2024), http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/2078/oj. 

Malta  20 

that  time  their  updates  on  the  elements,  features  and 
parameters identified monitoring gaps. The Commission 
recommended  that  Member  States  should  prioritise 
work 
levels  of 
implementation of the MSFD. 

those  gaps  at  all 

to  address 

Member States also reported their updated programmes 
of measures, which are required under Article 13 of the 
MSFD and  which  must  be updated every  six years. The 
Commission has assessed Member States’ programmes 
of measures. 

However,  Malta  reported  its  programme  of  measures 
with too much delay to be included in the Commission’s 
general assessment  of the  programmes of  measures of 
the Member States. 

Malta has not ratified the Protocol for the Protection of 
the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution Resulting from 
Exploration and Exploitation of the Continental Shelf and 
the  Seabed  and  Its  Subsoil  (Offshore  Protocol  to  the 
Barcelona Convention). 

2025 priority action 

•  Report its updates on the state of its marine waters, 
its targets and its determinations of GES (69) which 
are expected to include any threshold values for the 
descriptors  in  the  MSFD  that  may  have  been 
established  in  cooperation  with  other  Member 
States at the EU or regional level. 

Prevention and management of invasive alien 
species 

IAS  are  a  major  cause  of  biodiversity  loss  in  the  EU. 
Besides  inflicting  direct  and  indirect  damage  on  nature 
and  the  economy,  some  IAS  also  carry  and  spread 
infectious  diseases,  posing  a  threat  to  humans  and 
wildlife.  Regulation 
IAS 
Regulation) aims to prevent, minimise and mitigate the 
adverse impacts of IAS on biodiversity. It focuses action 
on a list of IAS of EU concern (the ‘Union list’), which is 
regularly updated (70). 

(EU)  No 1143/2014 

(the 

(68) 

(69) 
(70) 

https://environment.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-
04/C_2023_2203_F1_COMMUNICATION_FROM_COMMISSION
_EN_V5_P1_2532109.PDF. 
In accordance with Article 17 of Directive 2008/56/EC. 
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1141 of 13 July 
2016 adopting a list of  invasive alien species of Union concern 
pursuant  to  Regulation  (EU)  No 1143/2014  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  (OJ  L 189,  14.7.2016,  p. 4),  as 
amended  by  Commission 
Implementing  Regulations  (EU) 
2017/1263,  (EU)  2019/1262  and  (EU)  2022/1203,  https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:02016R1141-
20220802&from=EN. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
The third update of the Union list (71) entered into force 
on 2 August 2022. The fourth update is in preparation. 

ensure  that  surrounding  habitats  are  safeguarded 
accordingly. 

Malta  21 

The IAS Regulation (72) currently lists 88 species subject 
to  restrictions  on  keeping,  importing,  selling,  breeding, 
growing  and  releasing  into  the  environment.  Member 
States are required to  take measures to (i) prevent the 
introduction of IAS, (ii) ensure early detection and rapid 
eradication  of  IAS  and  (iii)  manage  species  that  are 
already widespread on their territory. 

This  aligns  with  target 6  of  the  GBF  to  reduce  the 
introduction of IAS by at least 50 % by 2030 and minimise 
their impact. 

Preventing  the  introduction  and  spread  of  IAS,  and 
managing  them, 
including  through  eradication  and 
control,  can  result  in  a  substantial  cost  saving.  Studies 
estimate  that  the  total  cost  of  IAS  in  Europe  (damages 
and  management)  amounted  to  EUR 116.61 billion 
between  1960  and  2020 (73).  More  recent  studies  have 
put  this  cost  at  USD 28 billion  per  year  in  the  EU, 
increasing  to  USD 148.2 billion  by  2040 (74),  and  at 
USD 423 billion annually at the global level (75). 

Through successful control measures, the total number 
of IAS of Union concern in Malta has been maintained at 
nine. This includes species recorded in the previous EIR 
(2021) with no new additions. The spread of IAS can be 
seen in Figure 14. 

Mapping  IAS  is  considered  the  first  important  step  to 
tackle  the  pressures  of  IAS  on  natural  habitats.  In  this 
regard,  a  number  of  initiatives  were  taken,  including 
detailed  mapping  of  Natura  2000  sites  using  on-site 
surveys and drone surveys where access was limited, and 
Citizen  Science,  which  includes  a  smartphone-based 
application through which to report sightings (76). 

Implementation  of  management  measures  for  the 
control or eradication of IAS is being coordinated by the 
ERA  through  collaboration  with  other  government 
entities, 
non-governmental 
organisations  (NGOs).  The  methodologies  used  are 
varied  and  include  manual,  mechanic  and  chemical 
interventions,  but  these  are  decided  following  careful 
assessment  of  the  site  context  and  species  involved  to 

site  managers 

and 

(71) 

(72) 

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1203 of 12 July 
2022  amending  Implementing  Regulation  (EU)  2016/1141  to 
update  the  list  of  invasive  alien  species  of  Union  concern  (OJ 
L 186,  13.7.2022,  p. 10),  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32022R1203.  
Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament and 
of  the  Council  of  22 October  2014  on  the  prevention  and 
management  of  the  introduction  and  spread  of  invasive  alien 
species (OJ L 317, 4.11.2014, p. 35). 

(73)  Haubrock, P. J., Turbelin, A. J., Cuthbert, R. N. et al., ‘Economic 
costs of invasive alien species across Europe’, NeoBiota, Vol. 63, 
2021, pp. 153–190. 

The  ERA  together  with  other  entities  embarked  on  an 
awareness campaign that included events such as school 
visits,  the  publication  and  distribution  of  booklets  on 
local habitats and IAS of Union concern, numerous public 
activities, social media posts and television programmes. 

The ERA issued a statement of intent and objectives for 
the publication of an action plan for the management of 
IAS of Union concern in 2024 (77). The ERA intends for the 
remit of the  action  plan to include  the management of 
five  additional  IAS  of  Union  concern,  and,  inter  alia,  to 
seek the removal, control or containment of populations 
of  IAS  of  Union  concern  and  promote  and  enhance 
collaboration between relevant stakeholders. 

Figure 14: Total IAS of  EU concern, based on available 
georeferenced information for Malta, 2024 

In 2022, there was a priority action addressed to Malta 
on stepping up implementation of the IAS Regulation and 
taking  further  measures  to  combat  IAS.  Some  progress 
has been achieved in this respect; however, these  new 
initiatives need to be solidified into implementation and 

(75) 

(74)  Henry, M., Leung, B., Cuthbert, R. N. et al., ‘Unveiling the hidden 
economic  toll  of  biological  invasions  in  the  European  Union’, 
Environmental Sciences Europe, Vol. 35, No 1, 2023, p. 43. 
on 
Platform 
IPBES 
Biodiversity 
for 
Summary 
Policymakers –  Invasive  alien  species  assessment,  Bonn,  2023, 
https://www.ipbes.net/document-library-catalogue/summary-
policymakers-invasive-alien-species-assessment. 

Science-Policy 
Services), 

(Intergovernmental 

Ecosystem 

and 

(76)

(77) 

https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/0e0e5eec6f324ce6a86

88b93068780ae. 
https://era.org.mt/intent-and-objectives-extension-of-the-
action-plan-for-the-management-of-invasive-alien-species-of-
union-concern-to-include-five-additional-species/. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
enforcement. 

2025 priority action 

• 

Step  up  implementation  of  the  IAS  Regulation, 
including  with  regard  to  enforcement  and  capacity 
of inspection authorities. 

Ecosystem assessment and accounting 

The  BDS  calls  on  Member  States  to  better  integrate 
biodiversity  considerations  into  public  and  business 
decision-making  at  all  levels  and  to  develop  natural 
capital accounting. 

Similarly, target 14 of the GBF (78) aims to ensure the full 
integration  of  biodiversity  and  its  multiple  values  into 
policy  and  planning  and,  as  appropriate,  national 
accounting.  This  requires  effective  and  coherent 
biodiversity  observation  and  reporting  on  ecosystem 
condition in the EU (79). 

The amended regulation (EU) No 691/2011 on European 
environmental  economic  accounts (80)  introduces  new 
requirements  for  Member  States  to  report  on  the 
condition  of  ecosystems  including  urban  ecosystems, 
croplands,  grasslands,  forest  and  woodlands,  coastal 
beaches,  dunes  and  wetlands.  Data  reported  by  the 
Member  States  will  feed  into  the  second  European 
ecosystem assessment, due in 2027, and can also be used 
to support policy decisions. 

An ecosystem assessment is an analysis of the condition 
of ecosystems and the pressures acting on them, as well 
as  the  benefits  that  they  provide  to  people,  either 
directly or indirectly through the economy. 

Malta’s national mapping and assessment of ecosystems 
and  their  services  is  based  on  the  ecosystem  type 
classification. To further enhance skills in the mapping of 
ecosystems, Malta has invested in dedicated geographic 

Malta  22 

information system training to build its capacity. Through 
this,  Malta  has  attained  further  knowledge  in  areas 
related  to  the  identification  of  ecosystem  services, 
including  through  national  projects  (e.g.  Esmeralda (81), 
EnRoute (82) and ReNature (83)). 

An 
increasing  number  of  platforms,  networks  and 
communities of practice involve businesses in protecting 
biodiversity,  including  the  EU  Business  &  Biodiversity 
Platform (84). These platforms and communities are key 
tools  for  promoting  and  facilitating  natural  capital 
assessments  among  businesses  and  financial  services 
providers. 

Natural  capital  assessments  help  private  businesses  to 
better  understand  both  the  negative  and  positive 
impacts that they have on nature, and to appreciate how 
nature contributes to their success. Such understanding 
contributes to the implementation of the EU’s BDS. 

There  is  no  Maltese  business  and  biodiversity  network 
member of the EU Business & Biodiversity Platform. 

accounting 

development, 

In  the  2022  EIR,  Malta  was  delivered  the  following 
priority actions: (i) continue supporting the mapping and 
assessment  of  ecosystems  and  their  services,  and 
through 
ecosystem 
appropriate  indicators  for  integrating  information  on 
ecosystem  extent,  condition  and  services  (including 
some  monetary  values)  into  national  accounts;  and  (ii) 
continue  supporting  the  development  of  national 
business  and  biodiversity  platforms,  including  natural 
capital  accounting  systems  to  monitor  and  value  the 
impact  of  business  on  biodiversity.  No  progress  was 
recorded on the development of a Maltese business and 
biodiversity network, hence it is reiterated in this report. 

2025 priority action 

• 

Support  the  development  of  the  national  business 
and biodiversity network.

(79) 

(78)  Decision 15/4 adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the 
Convention  on  Biological  Diversity:  Kunming–Montreal  global 
biodiversity 
framework 
(https://www.cbd.int/doc/decisions/cop-15/cop-15-dec-04-
en.pdf). 
European  Commission:  Joint  Research  Centre  and  EEA,  EU 
Ecosystem 
policymakers, 
Publications  Office  of  the  European  Union,  Luxembourg,  2021, 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-
/publication/81ff1498-b91d-11eb-8aca-
01aa75ed71a1/language-en. 
Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the 
Council  amending  Regulation  (EU)  No  691/2011  as  regards 

Assessment – 

Summary 

(80) 

for 

(81) 
(82) 

(83) 
(84) 

the 

final  of  11 

Joint  Research  Centre  Publications  Repository 

introducing  new  environmental  economic  accounts  modules, 
COM(2022)  329 
July  2022,  https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2022:329:FIN. 
http://www.esmeralda-project.eu/. 
See 
(https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/search?query
=en+route). 
http://www.renature-project.eu/. 
The  EU  Business  &  Biodiversity  Platform  (https://green-
business.ec.europa.eu/business-and-biodiversity_en)  aims  to 
promote  the  business  case  for  biodiversity  to  businesses  and 
financial institutions through workshops, seminars, reports and 
a cross-media communication strategy.  

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
Malta  23 

3. Zero pollution 

Clean air

EU  clean  air  policies  and  legislation  have  successfully 
reduced  emissions  of  key  air  pollutants  and  significantly 
improved  air  quality,  which  is  now  moving  towards  the 
levels  recommended  by  the  World  Health  Organization 
(WHO).  This  has  resulted  in  clear  health  benefits  and 
reduced adverse impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity. 
However, to achieve the WHO-recommended levels, more 
efforts  are  needed,  including  full  compliance  with  EU 
legislation.  To  guide  these  efforts,  the  EU  zero  pollution 
action plan sets targets  for  2030 relative to  2005.  These 
are to reduce the health impacts of air pollution by 55 % 
and  to  reduce  the  EU  ecosystems  threatened  by  air 
pollution by 25 %. 

The EU has developed a comprehensive suite of air quality 
policies (85).  These  set  health-based  EU  air  quality 
standards (86)  and  stipulate  Member  States’  national 
emission  reduction  commitments (87)  for  several  air 
pollutants.  

The  air  quality  in  Malta  is  generally  good,  with  some 
exceptions. 

The  latest  available  annual  estimates  (for  2022)  by  the 
EEA (88)  for  Malta  attribute  170  deaths  each  year  (or 
1 900 years  of  life  lost  (YLL))  to  fine  particulate  matter 
(PM2.5) (89);  20  deaths  each  year  (or  190 YLL)  to  nitrogen 
dioxide (NO2) (90); and 60 deaths each year (or 710 YLL) to 
ozone (91). 

The  emissions  of  several  air  pollutants  have  decreased 
significantly  in  Malta  since  2005,  while  GDP  growth  has 
continued  (see  Figure 15).  According  to  the  inventories 
submitted  under  Article 10(2)  of  the  National  Emission 
Reduction  Commitments  Directive  (NECD) (92)  in  2024, 
Malta  has  met  its  emission  reduction  commitments  for 

2020–2029 for air pollutants  nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-
methane  volatile  organic  compounds  (NMVOC),  sulphur 
dioxide (SO2), ammonia (NH3) and PM2.5. According to the 
latest  projections  submitted  under  Article 10(2)  of  the 
NECD, Malta  is projected to meet  its emission reduction 
commitments  for  2030  onwards  for  NMVOC,  SO2  and 
PM2.5, but not for NOx and NH3. 

Malta  submitted  its  first  national  air  pollution  control 
programme  (NAPCP)  to  the  Commission  on  18 March 
2020.  An  update  was  due  four  years  afterwards.  Malta 
also has to update its policies and measures to reduce air 
emissions. 

Figure 15:  Emission  trends  of  main  pollutants /  GDP  in 
Malta (%), 2005–2022 

250%

200%

150%

100%

50%

0%

NH₃

PM2.5
PM2.5
PM2.5

NMVOC

SO₂

NOₓ

GDP

Source: EEA, ‘National air pollutant  emissions data viewer 2005–2022’, 
25 June 
https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/topics/in-depth/air-
pollution/national-air-pollutant-emissions-data-viewer-2005-2022. 

2024, 

(85) 

(86) 

(87) 

(88) 

(89) 

European  Commission,  ‘Air’,  European  Commission  website, 
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/air_en. 
European  Commission,  ‘EU  air  quality  standards’,  European 
Commission 
website, 
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/air/air-quality/eu-air-
quality-standards_en.  
European  Commission,  ‘Reducing  emissions  of  air  pollutants’, 
European 
website, 
Commission 
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/air/reducing-
emissions-air-pollutants_en. 
EEA, Harm to human health from air pollution in Europe: Burden of 
disease  2024,  briefing  No 21/2024,  Copenhagen,  2024, 
https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/publications/harm-to-
human-health-from-air-pollution-2024. 
Particulate matter (PM) is a mixture of aerosol particles (solid and 
liquid) covering a wide range of sizes and chemical compositions. 
PM10  refers  to  particles  with  a  diameter  of  10 µm  or  less.  PM2.5 

refers to particles with a diameter of 2.5 µm or less. PM is emitted 
from many human sources, including combustion. 

(90)  Nitrogen  dioxide  (NO2)  here  pertains  to  a  group  of  gases  called 
NOx, which also comprises nitrogen monoxide (NO). NOx is emitted 
during fuel combustion – for example, from industrial facilities and 
the road transport sector. 
Low-level  ozone 
is  produced  by  photochemical  action  on 
pollution.  This  year,  for  the  first  time,  the  impact  of  long-term 
exposure to ozone has also been taken into account. In previous 
analysis by the EEA, only the impact of short-term exposure was 
estimated. 

(91) 

(92)  Directive (EU) 2016/2284 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council  of  14 December  2016  on  the  reduction  of  national 
emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants, amending Directive 
2003/35/EC  and  repealing  Directive  2001/81/EC  (OJ  L 344, 
17.12.2016, 
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2016.344.01.0001.01.ENG. 

p. 1), 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
Figure 16:  PM2.5  and  NOx  emissions  by  sector  in  Malta 
(%), 2022 

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

Waste

Transport

Residential,
commercial &
institutional

Manufacturing
and extractive
industry

Energy supply

Agriculture

PM2.5
PM2.5
6,6%

50,4%

3,9%

34,2%

1,8%

3,0%

NOₓ

0,3%

74,5%

3,5%

6,0%

11,7%

4,0%

Source: EEA, ‘National air pollutant  emissions data viewer 2005–2022’, 
https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/topics/in-depth/air-
25 June 
pollution/national-air-pollutant-emissions-data-viewer-2005-2022. 

2024, 

In  2023,  exceedances  above  the  limit  values  set  by  the 
Ambient Air Quality Directive (AAQD) (93) were registered 
for PM10 in one air quality zone (94) in Malta. Furthermore, 
in  one  air  quality  zone,  the  target  values  for  ozone 
concentrations have also not been met (95). 

Malta has not yet ratified the Heavy Metals Protocol and 
the  Persistent  Organic  Pollutants  Protocol  under  the 
United  Nations  Economic  Commission  for  Europe  Air 
Convention. 

In the 2022 EIR, Malta received three priority actions. The 
first was to further reduce emissions in the context of the 
NAPCP. Malta has made some progress on this. While the 
latest data show compliance with the 2020–2029 emission 
reduction  commitments,  Malta  is  still  projected  not  to 
reach  the  emission  reduction  commitment  for  2030 
onwards for NOx and NH3. The second priority action was 

(93)  Directive  2008/50/EU  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council of 21 May 2008 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for 
Europe 
https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32008L0050. 
The Maltese agglomeration. 
Eionet 
EEA, 
(https://cdr.eionet.europa.eu/). 

Repository 

11.6.2008, 

(94) 
(95) 

Central 

L 152, 

p. 1), 

Data 

(OJ 

(96)  Directive  2010/75/EU  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council of 24 November 2010 on industrial and livestock rearing 

Malta  24 

to ensure full compliance with EU air quality standards and 
maintain downward emission trends. Based on the latest 
data,  Malta  has  made  some  progress  in  this  regard. 
However,  exceedances  above  limit  values  and  target 
values  remain  for  PM10  and  ozone,  requiring  further 
action.  Additionally,  since  2019,  downward  emission 
trends have been reported only for SO2, requiring further 
action  for  pollutants  NOx,  NH3,  PM2.5  and  NMVOC.  The 
third  priority  action  received  by  Malta  was  to  ratify  the 
Heavy  Metals  Protocol  and  the  Persistent  Organic 
Pollutants Protocol. Malta has made some progress, but 
still has not ratified the two protocols mentioned. 

2025 priority actions 

•  As part of the NAPCP, take action to reduce emissions 

• 

of air pollutants. 
Ensure  full  compliance  with  the  current  AAQD 
standards, also in light of future stricter requirements 
under the revised AAQD. 

•  Accelerate  the  ratification  of  relevant  international 

conventions and protocols. 

Industrial emissions 

The  main objectives of EU policy on industrial emissions 
are to: 

(i)  protect  air,  water  and  soil  and  to  prevent  harmful 

effects on human health and the environment; 

(ii)  prevent and manage waste; 
(iii) improve  energy  and  resource  efficiency,  including 

water; 

(iv) contribute to decarbonisation. 

The  cornerstone  of  the  policy  is  the  Industrial  Emissions 
Directive (IED), which was revised in 2024 (96). The revision 
improves the directive’s contribution to the zero pollution 
objective. It has a strong focus on innovation, and builds 
solid  links  between  depollution,  decarbonisation  and 
circularity, making it a key  regulatory tool to accompany 
the green transformation of EU industry by 2050. 

The overview of industrial activities regulated by the IED 
below  is  based  on  data  reported  to  the  EU  Registry  in 
2022 (97). 

emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control) (OJ L 334, 
17.12.2010, p. 17), as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/1785 of the 
European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  24 April  2024, 
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02010L0075-
20240804&qid=1725983863299. 
EEA, 
Portal, 
Industrial 
European 
https://industry.eea.europa.eu/, 2022 being the baseline year for 
all reports. 

Emissions 

(97) 

 2025 Environmental Implementation Report – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
 
In Malta, there were 20 installations covered by the IED in 
2022, more than half of them (12) being installations for 
waste  management.  The  other  sectors  are  the  energy 
sector (4) and the chemical sector (4). 

Figure 17  shows  the  damage  to  health  and 
the 
environment due to the main industrial air pollutants. As 
this  depends  on,  among  other  factors,  the  size  of  the 
industrial  sector  in  each  Member  State,  the  figure  also 
shows  the  ratio  between  the  damage  and  the  industrial 
activity  (expressed  in  gross  value  added  (GVA)),  which 
gives an indication of the emissions ‘intensity’. Malta has 
the  lowest  damage  in  the  EU  and  the  lowest  emissions 
intensity  (EUR 1.7/EUR 1 000  GVA),  well  below  the  EU 
average of EUR 27.5/EUR 1 000 GVA. The energy sector is 
the  main  industrial  contributor  to  emissions  to  air  (98) 
(NOX, SO2, dust and emissions of heavy metals). 

Figure 17:  Industrial  air  pollution  damage  and  intensity 
per Member State, 2021 

Source: EEA, ‘Industrial pollution intensity indicators – EU large industry 
air  pollution  damage  costs  intensity’,  European  Industrial  Emissions 
Portal, 
https://industry.eea.europa.eu/analyse/industrial-
emissions-indicator. 

2024, 

Overall, the industrial emissions to water in the EU have 
decreased  over  time  for  all  the  main  pollutants.  On 
average in the EU, they appear to be decoupled from the 
industrial  activity  which  has  increased  over  the  same 
period (expressed in GVA), as shown in Figure 18. 

Malta  25 

Figure 18: Industrial releases of pollutants to water and 
industrial activity in the EU-27 

NB: Cd, cadmium; Hg, mercury; Ni, nickel; Pb, lead; total N, total nitrogen; 
total P, total phosphorous. 

Source:  EEA,  ‘Industrial  pollutant  releases to  water  in  Europe’,  30 May 
2024, 
https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/indicators/industrial-
pollutant-releases-to-water. 

Concerning  Malta  in  particular,  Figure 19  shows  the 
industrial emissions of heavy metals to water, taking into 
account the human toxicity of each metal, as well as the 
emissions intensity, based on its ratio with the industrial 
activity (expressed in  GVA).  Malta has one of the lowest 
amounts of emissions of heavy metals to water in the EU 
(weighted by human toxicity factors) but ranks eighth for 
emissions  intensity  (above  the  EU  average  intensity  of 
0.864 kg/EUR  1 billion  GVA).  As  shown  in  Figure 20,  the 
main industrial contributors to emissions to water in Malta 
are  the  energy  sector  for  heavy  metals,  and  livestock 
(installations  not  covered  by  the  IED)  for  nitrogen,  total 
organic carbon and phosphorous. 

Figure 19:  Industrial  releases  and  intensity  of  heavy 
metals to water per Member State, 2022 

Source: EEA, ‘Industrial pollution intensity indicators – EU large industry 
water  pollution  intensity’,  European  Industrial  Emissions  Portal,  2024, 
https://industry.eea.europa.eu/analyse/industrial-emissions-indicator. 

(98) 

European  Environment  Agency,  LRTAP,  Air  pollutant  emissions 
data viewer (Gothenburg Protocol, LRTAP Convention) 1990-2022, 

https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/topics/in-depth/air-pollution/air-
pollutant-emissions-data-viewer-1990-2022. 

 2025 Environmental Implementation Report – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 20:  Relative  releases  to  water  from  industry  in 
Malta (%), 2019 

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

Heavy Metals
Ecotoxicity

Heavy Metals
Human
Toxicity

Total nitrogen Total organic
carbon (TOC)

Total
phosphorus

Electricity and heat production

Livestock

Source: EEA, ‘Industrial reporting under the Industrial Emissions Directive 
2010/75/EU  and  European  Pollutant  Release  and  Transfer  Register 
Regulation (EC)  No 166/2006 –  ver. 12.0  Sep.  2024  (tabular  data)’,  EEA 
Geospatial 
2024, 
Catalogue, 
https://doi.org/10.2909/cf5e54c1-be99-4426-bcad-baa26c4f27a0. 

13 September 

Data 

IED 

contains  mandatory 

IED  provisions  on  public  information  and  participation 
require Member States to adopt transposition legislation 
enabling members of the public to have access to relevant 
information  and  participate  in  the  approval  process  for 
potentially  polluting  installations.  Thus,  the  public  and 
NGOs,  alongside  competent  authorities,  play  a  role  in 
ensuring compliance of these permits with EU legislation. 
The 
requirements  on 
environmental  inspections,  requiring  a  site  visit  to  take 
place at least every 1–3 years, using risk-based criteria. In 
addition,  IED  enforcement  provisions  require  Member 
States 
to  determine  effective,  proportionate,  and 
dissuasive  penalties  applicable  to  infringements  of  IED-
based  national  provisions.  In  the  revised  directive,  the 
provisions set that worst infringements can be sanctioned 
by fines of at least  3% of the annual EU turnover of the 
legal  person.  The  revised  IED  also  introduces  a  right  to 
compensation for people whose health has been harmed 
by such infringements. 

The development of best available techniques (BATs), BAT 
reference  documents  and  BAT  conclusions  ensures 
effective collaboration between stakeholders and enables 
better implementation of the IED. 

Since  the  2022  EIR,  the  Commission  has  adopted  BAT 
conclusions on (i) ferrous metal processing, (ii) the textiles 
industry,  (iii)  common  waste  gas  management  and 
treatment  systems 
in  the  chemical  sector  and  (iv) 
smitheries and foundries. 

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

Malta  26 

BAT  conclusions  and  associated  BAT  emission  levels  in 
environmental permits. This should result in considerable 
and continuous reductions in pollution. 

In 2022, Malta received a priority action to sign and ratify 
the  Kyiv  Protocol  on  Pollutant  Release  and  Transfer 
Registers. Malta has fulfilled this action.  

2025 priority actions 

• 

Ensure  compliance  with  reporting  obligations  under 
the  IED  for  2021–2023  and  under  the  European 
Pollutant  Release  and  Transfer  Register  for  2020–
2022. 

•  Reduce 

industrial  releases  to  water  and  their 

• 

• 

intensity. 
Engage  with  industry  and  environmental  NGOs  to 
ensure proper contribution to and implementation of 
BAT conclusions and ensure timely updates to permits 
following the publication of BAT conclusions. 
Ensure  effective  public  participation  and  access  to 
justice in relation to the IED. 

Major industrial accidents prevention – Seveso 

The  main  objectives  of  EU  policy  on  the  prevention  of 
major industrial accidents are to: 

(i)  control  major-accident  hazards  involving  dangerous 

substances, especially chemicals; 

(ii)  limit  the  consequences  of  such  accidents  for  human 

health and the environment; 

(iii) continuously improve the prevention of, preparedness 

for and response to major accidents. 

The cornerstone of the policy is Directive 2012/18/EU (the 
Seveso III Directive (99)). 

The overview below of industrial plants regulated by  the 
Seveso III Directive (‘Seveso establishments’) is based on 
data  reported  on  eSPIRS  (e-Seveso  Plants  Information 
Retrieval  System)  for  2022–2024 (100)  and  the  report  by 
Malta on the implementation of the Seveso III Directive for 
2019–2022 (101). 

In 2024, of the nine Seveso establishments in Malta, three 
are  categorised  as  lower-tier  establishments  and  six  as 
upper-tier establishments (UTEs), based on the quantity of 
hazardous  substances  likely  to  be  present.  UTEs  are 
subject to more stringent requirements. The change in the 
number  of  Seveso  establishments 
in 
Figure 21. 

is  presented 

(99)  Directive  2012/18/EU  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  of  4 July  2012  on  the  control  of  major-accident  hazards 
involving  dangerous  substances,  amending  and  subsequently 
repealing  Council  Directive  96/82/EC  (OJ  L 197,  24.7.2012,  p. 1), 
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2012/18/oj. 

(100)  https://espirs.jrc.ec.europa.eu/en/espirs/content; data extracted 

in September 2024 . 

(101)  As provided for by Article 21(2) of the Seveso III Directive. 

 2025 Environmental Implementation Report – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Malta  27 

2022, 

dangerous  substances),  Publications  Office  of  the  European  Union, 
Luxembourg, 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-
/publication/94d57d74-735b-11ec-9136-01aa75ed71a1/language-
en/format-PDF/source-search;  eSPIRS  data,  extractions  from  2022  and 
2024;  Analysis  and  summary  of  Member  States'  reports  on 
implementation  of  Directive  2012/18/EU  on  the  control  of  major 
accident hazards involving dangerous substances according to the format 
established  by  Commission  Implementing  Decision  2014/896/EU  - 
Publications  Office  of  the  EU,  https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-
detail/-/publication/9bd73087-e9b8-11ef-b5e9-
01aa75ed71a1/language-en. 

The  following  types  of  information  are  permanently 
available  for  all  UTEs  in  Malta:  (i)  information  for  the 
public  referred  to  in  Annex V  to  the  Seveso III  Directive, 
especially about how the public concerned will be warned 
if  there  is  a  major  accident;  (ii)  information  about 
appropriate  behaviour  in  the  event  of  a  major  accident; 
and (iii) the date of the last site visit. 

The  shares  of  UTEs  for  which  information  on  safety 
measures  and  requisite  behaviours  was  actively  made 
available to the public in 2022 in the EU-27 are presented 
in Figure 23. This provision on knowledge is an important 
provision of the Seveso III Directive, as awareness by the 
public  of 
the 
consequences of a major industrial accident. 

information  may  ameliorate 

this 

Industrial  Accidents 

Malta  has  not  signed  or  ratified  the  Convention  on  the 
Transboundary  Effects  of 
(as 
amended in 2015), which applies to (i) the prevention of, 
preparedness  for  and  response  to  industrial  accidents 
capable  of  causing  transboundary  effects;  and  (ii) 
international  cooperation 
industrial 
accidents  concerning,  among  other  things,  mutual 
assistance by signatory countries. 

in  the  event  of 

Figure 23: Share of UTE for which information on safety 
measures  and  requisite  behaviours  was  actively  made 
available to the public per Member State (%), 2022 

Figure 21:  Number  of  Seveso  establishments  in  Malta, 
2018, 2022 and 2024 

NB: LTE, lower-tier establishment. 

2022, 

Sources:  European  Commission:  Directorate-General  for  Environment, 
Assessment and summary of Member States’ implementation reports for 
(implementing  Directive 
Implementing  Decision 
2014/896/EU 
2012/18/EU  on  the  control  of  major  accident  hazards 
involving 
dangerous  substances),  Publications  Office  of  the  European  Union, 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-
Luxembourg, 
/publication/94d57d74-735b-11ec-9136-01aa75ed71a1/language-
en/format-PDF/source-search;  eSPIRS  data,  extractions  from  2022  and 
2024;  Analysis  and  summary  of  Member  States' 
reports  on 
implementation  of  Directive  2012/18/EU  on  the  control  of  major 
accident hazards involving dangerous substances according to the format 
established  by  Commission  Implementing  Decision  2014/896/EU  - 
Publications  Office  of  the  EU,  https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-
detail/-/publication/9bd73087-e9b8-11ef-b5e9-
01aa75ed71a1/language-en. 

Member  States  are  required  to  draw  up  external 
emergency plans (EEPs). These EEPs are essential to allow 
proper  preparation  and  effective  implementation  of  the 
necessary  actions  to  protect  the  environment  and  the 
population should  a  major  industrial  accident  occur  at  a 
Seveso establishment. According to Malta, in 2022, an EEP 
was required for all seven UTEs. In that same year, six UTEs 
had an EEP and two of these EEPs had been tested within 
the last three years. The summary is shown in Figure 22. 

Figure 22: Situation regarding EEPs in Malta, 2022 

Sources:  European  Commission:  Directorate-General  for  Environment, 
Assessment and summary of Member States’ implementation reports for 
(implementing  Directive 
Implementing  Decision 
2014/896/EU 
involving 
2012/18/EU  on  the  control  of  major  accident  hazards 

NB: No data available for Greece. 

Sources:  European  Commission:  Directorate-General  for  Environment, 
Assessment and summary of Member States’ implementation reports for 
(implementing  Directive 
Implementing  Decision 
2014/896/EU 
involving 
2012/18/EU  on  the  control  of  major  accident  hazards 
dangerous  substances),  Publications  Office  of  the  European  Union, 
Luxembourg, 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-
/publication/94d57d74-735b-11ec-9136-01aa75ed71a1/language-

2022, 

 2025 Environmental Implementation Report – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
en/format-PDF/source-search;  eSPIRS  data,  extractions  from  2022  and 
2024;  Analysis  and  summary  of  Member  States' 
reports  on 
implementation  of  Directive  2012/18/EU  on  the  control  of  major 
accident hazards involving dangerous substances according to the format 
established  by  Commission  Implementing  Decision  2014/896/EU  - 
Publications  Office  of  the  EU,  https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-
detail/-/publication/9bd73087-e9b8-11ef-b5e9-
01aa75ed71a1/language-en. 

(i) 

strengthen 

to  Malta: 

In  the  2022  EIR,  the  following  priority  actions  were 
control  and 
delivered 
enforcement  to  ensure  compliance  with  the  Seveso III 
Directive  rules,  especially  those  on  the  provision  of 
information  to  the  public  and  on  EEPs;  and  (ii)  sign  and 
ratify  the  Convention  on  the  Transboundary  Effects  of 
Industrial Accidents. There has been some progress made 
on establishing EEPs for UTEs as required and on making 
information available to the public. However, no progress 
has  been  made  on  the  signature  and  ratification  of  the 
convention, hence this action is reiterated in this report. 

2025 priority action 

• 

Sign and ratify the Convention on the Transboundary 
Effects of Industrial Accidents. 

Mercury Regulation 

The  Mercury  Regulation  establishes  measures  and 
conditions concerning the use and storage of and trade in 
mercury,  mercury  compounds  and  mixtures  of  mercury, 
the manufacture and use of and trade in mercury-added 
products and the management of mercury waste, in order 
to ensure a high level of protection of human health and 
the  environment  from  anthropogenic  emissions  and 
releases of mercury and mercury compounds. The revision 
of the Mercury Regulation adopted in 2024 sets out rules 
to address the last intentional uses of mercury in the EU 
by  phasing  out  the  use  of  dental  amalgam  by  1 January 
2025 except when deemed strictly necessary by the dental 
practitioner  based  on  the  specific  medical  needs  of  the 
patient,  and  prohibiting  the  manufacture  and  export  of 
additional mercury-containing lamps from 1 January 2026 
or 1 January 2027 (depending on the lamp category). 

(102)  Directive  2002/49/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  of  25 June  2002  relating  to  the  assessment  and 
management  of  environmental  noise –  Declaration  by  the 
Commission  in  the  Conciliation  Committee  on  the  directive 
relating  to  the  assessment  and  management  of  environmental 
noise (OJ L 189, 18.7.2002, p. 12), https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32002L0049. 
(103)  WHO,  Environmental  Noise  Guidelines 
Copenhagen, 

for  the 
European 
2018, 
https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/978928905356
3. 

Region, 

(104)  These figures are an estimation by the EEA based on (i) the data 
reported  by  Member  States  on  noise  exposure  covered  by 
Directive 2002/49/EC for the round of noise mapping of 2022; (ii) 

Malta  28 

In 2019, 43 % of dental treatments were still using dental 
amalgam,  which  represented  a  challenge  for  Malta  to 
phase out its use by 1 January 2025. However, measures 
should  have  been  put  in  place  to  ensure  a  socially  and 
economically  sound  phase-out,  including  an  adequate 
reimbursement  of  the  alternatives  to  dental  amalgam 
through the health insurance scheme and the training of 
dental  practitioners.  The  Commission 
is  monitoring 
whether the phase-out  has taken place under the terms 
and conditions of the  regulation. Malta will also need to 
ensure  that  the  manufacture  and  export  of  mercury-
containing lamps are prohibited by the deadlines set out 
in the Mercury Regulation. 

Noise 

requires  a 
The  Environmental  Noise  Directive (102) 
common  approach  to  avoid,  prevent  and  reduce  the 
harmful  effects  of  noise.  The  designated  authorities  are 
responsible  for  making  and  approving  noise  maps  and 
action  plans  for  agglomerations,  major  roads,  major 
railways  and  major  airports.  Member  States  decide  on 
noise limits that are not set at the EU level. Nevertheless, 
the zero pollution action plan sets as a 2030 target a 30 % 
reduction  compared  with  2017  in  the  share  of  people 
chronically disturbed by transport noise. 

Excessive noise from aircraft, railways and roads is one of 
the main causes of environmental health‐related issues in 
the  EU.  It  can  cause  ischaemic  heart  disease,  stroke, 
interrupted sleep, cognitive impairment and stress (103). 

In  Malta,  environmental  noise  is  estimated  to  cause  at 
ischaemic  heart  disease 
least  around  5  cases  of 
annually (104)  and  some  2 100  people  to  suffer  from 
disturbed sleep (105). 

Based on the latest set of information analysed, Malta has 
completed its noise mapping of agglomerations, roads and 
airports. 

Action  plans  for  noise  management  for  agglomerations, 
roads,  railways  and  airports  must  be  updated  and 
submitted  to  the  Commission  every  five  years.  The 

European  Topic  Centre  on  Air  Pollution,  Transport,  Noise  and 
Industrial  Pollution  (ETC/ATNI),  Noise 
Indicators  under  the 
Environmental Noise Directive 2021: Methodology for estimating 
missing  data,  Eionet  report  ETC/ATNI  No 2021/06, Kjeller,  2021; 
and  (iii)  the  methodology  for  health  impact  calculations  in 
European  Topic  Centre  on  Air  Pollution  and  Climate  Change 
Mitigation  (ETC/ACM),  Implications  of  environmental  noise  on 
in  Europe,  Eionet  report  ETC/ACM 
health  and  wellbeing 
No 2018/10, 
2018, 
https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/etc-atni/products/etc-atni-
reports/eionet_rep_etcacm_2018_10_healthimplicationsnoise. 

Bilthoven, 

(105)  More information on the adverse health effects of noise pollution 

is available at: 
https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/human/noise/noise-2 

 2025 Environmental Implementation Report – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
  
deadline for reporting noise action plans under the most 
recent  reporting  cycle  was  18 January  2025;  these  plans 
have not been assessed yet. 

2025 priority action 

• 

Complete  and  implement  action  plans  on  noise 
management. 

Water quality and management 

EU  legislation  and  policy  requires  that  the  impact  of 
pressures on transitional waters, coastal waters and fresh 
water  (including  surface  waters  and  groundwater)  be 
significantly reduced. Achieving, maintaining or enhancing 
a  good  status  of  waterbodies  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. 

Water Framework Directive 

Directive 

The Water Framework Directive (106) is the cornerstone of 
EU  water  policy  in  the  21st  century (107).  The  Water 
Framework 
other  water-related 
and 
directives (108) form the basis of sustainable and integrated 
water management in the EU. They aim to achieve a high 
level  of  protection  of  water  resources,  prevention  of 
further  deterioration  and  restoration  to  good  status. 
These  objectives  are  very 
important  for  the  EU’s 
competitiveness,  strategic  autonomy  and  security,  yet 
have become even more challenging in the face of climate 
change affecting our precious water resources. 

The Water Framework Directive establishes a procedural 
framework for reaching good surface water ecological and 
chemical  status  and  good  groundwater  quantitative  and 
chemical status. This implies monitoring and classification 
of all waterbodies, assessment  of pressures and impacts 
and identification of the most cost-effective measures to 
achieve the objectives of the directive. The directive dates 
from 2000 and set an initial deadline of 2015 for achieving 

(106)  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-

content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32000L0060. 

(107)  https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/water_en. 
(108)  These 

include 

the 

the  Groundwater  Directive 

(https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32006L0118), 
the  Environmental  Quality  Standards  Directive  (https://eur-
Directive 
lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2008/105/oj), 
(https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32007L0060), the Bathing Water 
(https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
Directive 
content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32006L0007), 
Urban 
(https://eur-
Directive 
Wastewater 
lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A31991L0271), 
the 
(https://eur-
new 
lex.europa.eu/legal-

Drinking  Water 

Treatment 

Directive 

Floods 

the 

Malta  29 

its  objectives, with  the option  to  extend the deadline to 
the  end  of  2027.  Every  six  years,  Member  States  must 
report their river basin management plans (RBMPs) to the 
Commission. They should cover river basin districts in their 
countries,  some  of  which  may  be  shared  with  other 
countries. The Commission has assessed the third cycle of 
RBMPs, which were to be submitted by March 2022, and 
reported  its  findings  to  the  European  Parliament  and  to 
the Council on 4th February 2025109. 

Malta  is  facing  water  scarcity,  as  evidenced  by  the 
Seasonal Water Exploitation Index +110. In 2022, this index 
reaches  60.8  %  which  is  much  above  the  20%  generally 
considered as a sign of scarcity in the third quarter of the 
year. Above 40%, it would be a sign of severe scarcity.  

 Floods Directive 

Every six years, following the same reporting cycle as the 
RBMPs,  all  Member  States  also  report  their  flood  risk 
management  plans  (FRMPs),  based  on  the  flood  hazard 
and risk maps and the preliminary flood risk assessments 
drawn up during the second cycle (2016–2021). 

Malta did not submit the third RBMPs and second FRMPs 
by March 2022, as required under the Water Framework 
Directive  and  the  Floods  Directive.  The  Commission 
opened  an  infringement  procedure  for  late  reporting. 
Malta finally reported its second FRMP in February 2024 
and its third RBMP in March 2024. However,  because of 
this late reporting, the Commission has not been  able to 
assess the plans and include the assessment in its report 
to the European Parliament and to the Council. 

Consequently,  this  report  cannot  be  updated  for  Malta 
and reference is made to the 2022 EIR for the latest state 
of play (111). 

Drinking Water Directive 

The  objectives  of  the  Drinking  Water  Directive  are  to 
protect human health by ensuring the quality intended for 
human  consumption,  and  to  improve  access  to  drinking 
is  now 
water.  The  recast  Drinking  Water  Directive 

content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32020L2184), 
Directive 
content/EN/ALL/?uri=celex%3A31991L0676), 
(https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32008L0056) 
(https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32010L0075). 
ENV - Library 

the 

Nitrates 
(https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
MSFD 

the 

and 

the 

IED 

109  
110   Water  scarcity  conditions  in  Europe  |  European  Environment 

Agency's home page 

(111)  https://environment.ec.europa.eu/law-and-

governance/environmental-implementation-review_en#country-
reports. 

 2025 Environmental Implementation Report – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
Malta  30 

applicable,  and  Member  States  were  required  to 
transpose  its  provisions  into their  national  legal  systems 
by 12 January 2023. Since the entry into force of the recast 
directive, the Commission has adopted several delegated 
and  implementing  acts  establishing  (i)  a  watch  list  of 
substances  and  compounds  of  concern  for  drinking 
water (112), (ii) a methodology for measuring microplastics 
in drinking water (113) and (iii) an EU system for testing and 
approving materials that will be allowed to be in contact 
with drinking water (114). Member States will have to take 
these  various  Commission  acts 
into  account  when 
implementing the recast directive. 

Finally,  the  Commission  has  now  received  data  from 
Member States on the quality of drinking water in 2017–
2019.  The  quality  of  drinking  water  (supplied  by  large 
water  suppliers) 
in  Malta  does  not  give  rise  to 
concern (115). 

Source:  EEA,  European  Bathing  Water  Quality 
No 04/2024, 
https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/european-bathing-water-
quality-in-2023/. 

in  2023,  briefing 
2024, 

Copenhagen, 

Nitrates Directive 

From  January  2026,  the  European  quality  standards  for 
per-  and  polyfluoroalkyl  substances  (PFAS)  in  drinking 
water  will  apply,  ensuring  harmonised  Member  States’ 
reporting of PFAS monitoring data in the future. 

The  Nitrates  Directive (116)  aims  to  protect  water  quality 
across  Europe  by  preventing  nitrates  from  agricultural 
sources that can pollute groundwater and surface waters 
and by promoting the use of good farming practices. 

Bathing Water Directive 

The  Bathing  Water  Directive  requires  Member  States  to 
monitor and assess bathing water. It requires that, during 
the  bathing  season,  Member  States  disseminate  to  the 
public  information on bathing water quality actively and 
promptly.  Notices  banning  or  advising  against  bathing 
should be rapidly and easily identifiable. 

Figure 24  shows  that  in  2023,  out  of  the  87  Maltese 
bathing  waters,  80  (92 %)  were  of  excellent  quality,  3 
(3.4 %)  were  of  good  quality  and  4  (4.6 %)  were  of 
sufficient quality. No bathing waters were found to be of 
poor quality. 

Figure 24:  Bathing  water  quality  per  Member  State, 
Albania and Switzerland (%), 2023. 

The  latest  Commission  report  on  the  implementation  of 
the Nitrates Directive (117), dating back to 2021, warns that 
nitrates are still causing harmful pollution to water in the 
EU. Excessive nitrates in water are harmful to both human 
health  and  ecosystems,  causing  oxygen  depletion  and 
eutrophication. Cleaning of waters by national authorities 
or  farmers,  where  it  has  been  undertaken,  has  had  a 
positive  impact  on  the  drinking  water  supply  and  on 
biodiversity.  It  has  also  benefited  the  sectors –  such  as 
fisheries and tourism – that depend on biodiversity and on 
a good supply of drinking water. Nevertheless, excessive 
fertilisation  remains  a  problem  in  many parts  of  the EU. 
The report on the implementation of the Nitrates Directive 
covering 2020–2023 will be available in 2025. 

The  analysis  of  Malta’s  RBMPs  has  identified  nutrients 
from  agriculture  as  an 
important  pressure  on 
groundwater /  surface  waters  that  is  affecting  these 
waters’ good status and as one of the main factors in not 
meeting the Water Framework Directive objectives. 

(112)  https://environment.ec.europa.eu/publications/implementing-

decision-drinking-water-directive-watch-list_en. 

(113)  Commission Delegated Decision (EU) 2024/1441 of 21 March 2024 
supplementing  Directive  (EU)  2020/2184  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council by laying down a methodology to 
measure microplastics in water intended for human consumption 
(notified  under  document  C(2024) 1459)  (OJ  L,  2024/1441, 
21.5.2024), http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec_del/2024/1441/oj. 
(114)  http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2024/365/oj; OJ L, 2024/367, 
http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2024/367/oj; 
23.4.2024, 
OJ L, 
23.4.2024, 
http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2024/369/oj;  OJ L,  2024/368, 
23.4.2024, http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2024/368/oj; OJ L, 

2024/369, 

2024/370, 
23.4.2024, 
http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2024/370/oj;  OJ L,  2024/371, 
23.4.2024,  http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2024/371/oj;  see 
the  Commission  web  page  on  all  six  delegated  acts  for  more 
information 
(https://environment.ec.europa.eu/publications/delegated-acts-
drinking-water-directive_en). 
In summary, the compliance for all parameter groups in Malta was 
at least 86.31 % in 2017, 87.38 % in 2018 and 87.49 % in 2019. 

(115) 

(116)  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-

content/EN/TXT/?qid=1561542776070&uri=CELEX:01991L0676-
20081211. 

(117)  https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/water/nitrates_en. 

 2025 Environmental Implementation Report – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2025 priority action 

•  Tackle  nutrient  pollution,  especially  nitrates  from 
implementation  of  the 

agriculture,  through  the 
Nitrates Directive. 

Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive 

The  Urban  Wastewater  Treatment  Directive  (UWWTD) 
aims to protect human health and the environment from 
the  effects  of  untreated  urban  wastewater.  It  therefore 
requires Member States to collect and treat (secondary or 
biological  treatment)  waste  water  in  all  urban  areas  of 
more  than  2 000  people,  and  to  apply  a  more  stringent 
treatment 
than  secondary,  with  nitrogen  and/or 
phosphorus  removal,  to  the  waste  water  generated  in 
urban areas, also known as agglomerations, of more than 
10 000 people, before they are discharged into waters and 
their  catchments,  when  they  are  sensitive  to  nitrogen 
and/or phosphorus (i.e. eutrophic or tending to become 
eutrophic). 

Malta has three agglomerations covered by the UWWTD, 
two of which still have compliance issues: 

• 

• 

one  agglomeration  (Gozo  Main)  generating  6 %  of 
urban wastewater, compliant with the requirements 
of the directive;  
2  agglomerations  (Malta  North  and  Malta  South) 
generating  the  remainder  of  urban  wastewater,  not 
compliant  with  the  requirements  of  the  directive 
(secondary and more stringent treatment). 

Figure 25:  Proportion  of  urban  wastewater  that  fully 
complies with the UWWTD (%), 2020 

Publications 
https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2779/318637 

Office 

the 

of 

European 

Malta  31 

Union, 

2024, 

On 17 October 2024, the Court of Justice of the European 
Union  condemned  Malta (118)  for  failure  to  ensure 
compliance  with  the  UWWTD  in  the  Malta  North  and 
Malta South agglomerations. It is essential that Malta take 
the  necessary  measures  to  fully  comply  with  the 
requirements of the directive. 

The directive has been revised (119). The revised directive 
builds  on  the  current  acquis,  strengthens  existing 
treatment  standards  and  establishes  an  additional 
treatment of micropollutants in urban wastewater. Other 
new  requirements  relate  to  moving  towards  the  energy 
neutrality  of  the  sector,  establishing  an  EPR  system  to 
ensure sustainable financing of micropollutant treatment 
by  the  most  polluting  industries  and  ensuring  access  to 
sanitation,  especially  for  vulnerable  and  marginalised 
groups. Malta has until 31 July 2027 to transpose the new 
directive into its national legal system. 

to 

complete 

In the 2022 EIR, Malta received priority actions to (i) assess 
new  physical  modifications  of  waterbodies  in  line  with 
Article 4(7)  of  the  Water  Framework  Directive  and 
consider  in  these  assessments  alternative  options  and 
the 
adequate  mitigation  measures 
monitoring of the quantitative status of groundwater; (ii) 
enforce measures to prevent and reduce nitrate pollution; 
and (iii) complete the implementation of the UWWTD for 
all  agglomerations,  by  building  up  the  necessary 
infrastructure to ensure the separation of farmyard waste. 
The Commission has noted limited progress in these areas. 
In  particular,  the  implementation  of  the  UWWTD  raises 
serious  concern.  Hence,  these  priority  actions  are 
reiterated in this report. 

2025 priority actions 

• 

the  necessary  measures 

Take 
full 
implementation  of  the  current  urban  wastewater 
treatment  directive,  taking  into  account  the  new 
requirements of the recast directive. 

to  ensure 

Chemicals 

The EU seeks to ensure that chemicals are produced and 
used  in  a  way  that  minimises  any  significant  adverse 
effects on human health and the environment. In October 
2020, the Commission published its chemicals strategy for 

Source:  European  Commission:  Directorate-General  for  Environment, 
Fribourg-Blanc,  B.,  Dhuygelaere,  N.,  Berland,  J.  and  Imbert,  F.,  12th 
technical  assessment  of  UWWTD  implementation  –  Final  version, 

(118) 

Judgment of 17 October 2024, European Commission v Republic of 
Malta, 
EU:C:2024:906, 
https://curia.europa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?language=en&num=C-
304/23. 

C-304/23, 

(119)  Directive (EU) 2024/3019 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council  of  27 November  2024  concerning  urban  wastewater 
treatment 
L,  2024/3019,  12.12.2024),  https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/3019/oj/eng. 

(OJ 

 2025 Environmental Implementation Report – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
sustainability  towards  a  toxic-free  environment (120), 
which  led  to  some  systemic  changes  in  EU  chemicals 
legislation. The strategy is part of the EU’s zero pollution 
ambition –  a  key  commitment  of  the  European  Green 
Deal. 

The  EU’s  chemicals  legislation (121)  provides  a  baseline 
protection for human health and the environment. It also 
for  businesses 
ensures  stability  and  predictability 
operating in the internal market. 

and 

enforcement 

Since 2007, the Commission has gathered information on 
the  enforcement  of 
the  Registration,  Evaluation, 
Authorisation  and  Restriction  of  Chemicals  (REACH) 
Regulation and the Classification, Labelling and Packaging 
(CLP)  Regulation.  In  December  2020,  the  Commission 
assessed  the  Member  States’  reports (122)  on  the 
these 
implementation 
regulations (123).  It  is  apparent  from  the  Commission’s 
report  that  there  are  still  many  disparities 
in  the 
implementation  of  the  REACH  and  CLP  Regulations, 
law  enforcement.  Recorded 
notably 
compliance levels in Member States, generally quite stable 
over time, appear to be getting slightly worse. This may be 
because  (i)  enforcement  authorities  are  becoming  more 
effective in detecting non-compliant products/companies; 
and (ii) more non-compliant products are being placed on 
the EU market. 

in  the  area  of 

of 

(120)  Communication 

to 

from 

the  Commission 

the  European 
Parliament,  the  Council,  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions –  Chemicals 
strategy  for  sustainability:  Towards  a  toxic-free  environment, 
final  of  14 October  2020,  https://eur-
COM(2020) 667 
lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM%3A2020%3A667%3AFIN;  Regulation 
(EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council 
of 16 December 2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of 
substances  and  mixtures,  amending  and  repealing  Directives 
67/548/EEC  and  1999/45/EC,  and  amending  Regulation  (EC) 
No 1907/2006 
p. 1), 
L 353, 
https://publications.europa.eu/resource/cellar/c6b6a31d-8359-
11ee-99ba-01aa75ed71a1.0004.02/DOC_2. 

31.12.2008, 

(OJ 

(121)  Namely,  Regulation 

(EC)  No 1907/2006  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  18 December  2006  concerning 
the  registration,  evaluation,  authorisation  and  restriction  of 
chemicals  (REACH),  establishing  a  European  Chemicals  Agency, 
amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation 
(EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as 
well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 
91/155/EEC,  93/67/EEC,  93/105/EC  and  2000/21/EC  (OJ  L 396, 
30/12/2006, 
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32006R1907; and Regulation (EC) 
No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 
16 December  2008  on  classification,  labelling  and  packaging  of 
substances  and  mixtures,  amending  and  repealing  Directives 
67/548/EEC  and  1999/45/EC,  and  amending  Regulation  (EC) 
No 1907/2006 
L 353,  31.12.2008,  p. 1),  https://eur-
(OJ 
lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02008R1272-20221217. 

p. 1), 

(122)  European Commission, Technical assistance to review the existing 
Member  States  reporting  questionnaire  under  Articles 117(1)  of 
REACH and 46(2) of CLP – Final report, Publications Office of the 

Malta  32 

In August 2021, the Commission published a measurable 
assessment  of the enforcement (124) of the two main EU 
regulations  on  chemicals  using  a  set  of  indicators  on 
different  aspects  of  enforcement.  Since  2021,  the  list  of 
chemicals  subject  to  restrictions  has  been  expanded  as 
new entries have been added to Annex XVII to the REACH 
Regulation (125). 

In  2023,  new  hazard  classes  were  added  to  the  CLP 
Regulation, and the revision of the regulation was tabled 
(published on 20 November 2024)  (126). The new hazard 
classes  cover  endocrine  disruptors  and  persistence-
related  hazards  while  the  revision  of  the  regulation 
encompasses  new  rules  on  online  sales  to  better  tackle 
non-compliances  observed  over  the  years.  Also  in  2023, 
the  Conference  of  the  Parties  of  the  Stockholm 
Convention (COP) decided to include, in its Annex A (which 
lists  banned  substances),  three  new  chemicals (127).  The 
Commission  is  working  on  the  delegated  acts  to  include 
these  substances  in  Annex I  to  the  Persistent  Organic 
Pollutants Regulation by 2025 at the latest. 

In Malta, responsibility for checking compliance with both 
the REACH and CLP Regulations lies with the Competition 
and Consumer Affairs Authority (128). 

In  2020,  an  EU-coordinated  enforcement  project  on 
products sold online, called the REACH-EN-FORCE (REF)-8 

Union, 

Luxembourg, 

European 
https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/8ee3c69a-bccb-4f22-89ca-
277e35de7c63/library/a4abce8c-8425-455f-b7e6-
0ead917bde6b/details. 
In 
Article 46(2) of the CLP Regulation. 

line  with  Article 117(1)  of  the  REACH  Regulation  and 

2020, 

(123) 

the 

European 

(124)  European  Commission,  Directorate-General  for  Internal  Market, 
Industry,  Entrepreneurship  and  SMEs,  REACH  and  CLP 
Enforcement: EU-level enforcement indicators, Publications Office 
2021, 
Union, 
of 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-
/publication/e5c3e461-0f85-11ec-9151-01aa75ed71a1/. 
(125)  These are substances in tattoo inks and permanent make-up, N,N-
dimethylformamide, formaldehyde (and formaldehyde releasers), 
lead in PVC (polyvinyl chloride), siloxanes (D4, D5, D6) and, finally, 
microplastics. 

Luxembourg, 

(126)  Regulation (EU) 2024/2865 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council  of  23  October  2024  amending  Regulation  (EC)  No 
1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances 
and mixtures, OJ L, 2024/2865, 20.11.2024, p.1 (Regulation - EU - 
2024/2865 - EN - EUR-Lex). 

(127)  These are methoxychlor, dechlorane plus and UV-328. In the case 
of the pesticide methoxychlor, there are no exemptions from the 
ban. However, for the two plastic additives, dechlorane plus and 
UV-328,  the  COP  decision 
lists  some  time-limited  specific 
exemptions. 

(128)  Technical  assistance  to  review  the  existing  Member  States 
reporting questionnaire under Articles 117(1) of REACH and 46(2) 
of CLP – Final report, Publications Office of the European Union, 
Luxembourg, 
p. 70, 
https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/8ee3c69a-bccb-4f22-89ca-
277e35de7c63/library/a4abce8c-8425-455f-b7e6-
0ead917bde6b/details. 

2020, 

 2025 Environmental Implementation Report – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
project (129),  was  conducted.  The  project  report  was 
released in November 2021, so it could not be considered 
in the 2022 EIR. 

In 2022, the EIR mentioned that only two staff members 
from  the  Competition  and  Consumer  Affairs  Authority 
were  allocated 
to  REACH  and  CLP  Regulations 
enforcement.  Malta  had  partially  implemented  a  REACH 
Regulation  enforcement  strategy  but  had  not  indicated 
whether it followed the strategy devised by the Forum for 
Exchange of Information on Enforcement (130). 

In  2023,  a  Digital  Investigations  Unit  was  established  in 
Malta. Through this unit, recalled chemicals and chemical-
related products published on RAPEX (Rapid Exchange of 
Information  System)  and  still  offered  for  sale  on  online 
platforms  are  identified,  and  the  necessary  actions  are 
then taken to withdraw those products from the market. 

Since  the  Member  States’  reporting  exercise  set  out  in 
Article 117 of the REACH Regulation and Article 46 of the 
CLP  Regulation  is  conducted  every  five  years  and  the 
results  of  the  coming  one  are  expected  in  2025,  no 
progress has been reported. 

Figure 26: Compliance of imported products – results of 
the REF-8 project (%) 

Malta  33 

proportion  of  non-compliance  cases  found  in  the  REF-8 
project are of concern. 

Figure 27:  Number  of  REF-8  checks  performed  per 
100 000 inhabitants (EU average = 1.24) 

Malta  did  not  participate  to  the  REF-8  coordinated 
enforcement  project,  although  online  sales  have  been 
proven  to  correspond  consistently  to  higher  non-
compliance  rates  in  checks  performed  across  the  EU,  in 
particular when related to imported products. 

capacities 

(i)  upgrade 

administrative 

In  2022,  the  following  priority  actions  were  delivered  to 
Malta: 
in 
implementation  and  enforcement  to  move  towards  a 
policy of zero tolerance of non-compliance; and (ii) devise 
and implement strategies to enforce the REACH and CLP 
Regulations.  Since  then,  Malta  has  participated 
in 
coordinated  enforcement  projects  run  by  the  Forum  for 
Exchange of Information on Enforcement. 

2025 priority actions 

A  risk  approach  was  used  for  the  targeting  of  control 
measures  to  maximise  the  chances  of  identifying  non-
compliance.  Therefore, 
rates 
presented above cannot be considered the average non-
compliance  rates  of  products  in  the  EU.  However,  the 

the  non-compliance 

• 

•  Upgrade 

the 

capacities 

in 
administrative 
implementation and enforcement towards a policy of 
zero tolerance for non-compliance. 
Increase involvement in the activities of the Forum for 
Exchange  of  Information  on  Enforcement  of  the 
European  Chemicals  Agency, 
the 
in 
coordinated enforcement projects, called REFs. 

including 

(129)  European Chemicals Agency, REF-8 project report on enforcement 
of the CLP, REACH and BPR duties related to substances, mixtures 
p. 20, 
and 
https://echa.europa.eu/documents/10162/17088/project_report
_ref-8_en.pdf/ccf2c453-da0e-c185-908e-
3a0343b25802?t=1638885422475. 

Helsinki, 

articles 

online, 

2021, 

sold 

(130)  European Chemicals Agency, REF-8 project report on enforcement 
of the CLP, REACH and BPR duties related to substances, mixtures 
p. 76, 
and 
https://echa.europa.eu/documents/10162/17088/project_report
_ref-8_en.pdf/ccf2c453-da0e-c185-908e-
3a0343b25802?t=1638885422475. 

Helsinki, 

articles 

online, 

2021, 

sold 

 2025 Environmental Implementation Report – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
• 

Increase  customs  controls  and  controls  of  products 
sold online with regard to compliance with chemicals 
legislations.

Malta  34 

 2025 Environmental Implementation Report – Malta 

 
 
 
 
4. Climate action

Malta  35 

the  EU  has  demonstrated 

The  impacts  of  climate  change  have  continued  to 
increase in recent years, inflicting damage and suffering 
in the EU and around the world. Globally, 2023 was the 
hottest year on record, while Europe has been warming 
twice  as  quickly  as  the  global  average,  and  is  now  the 
fastest-warming  continent.  The  frequency  and  severity 
of  extreme  climate  events  are  also  increasing.  Against 
this  backdrop, 
its 
determination  to  implement  the  European  Green  Deal 
and  to  become  climate  neutral  and  resilient  by  2050, 
ensuring sustainable competitiveness and supporting EU 
industry in the net-zero transition. The European Climate 
Law is the EU’s response to the need for action. It sets 
the objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050 and 
a midterm target of a reduction in GHG emissions of at 
least 55 % by 2030, and outlines the adaptation efforts 
necessary  to  adjust  to  climate  change’s  present  and 
future impacts. Almost  all the  ‘Fit for 55’ proposals  set 
out in the European Green Deal have been agreed in law, 
and  the  European  Commission  recommended  a  new 
intermediate  climate  target  of  a  90 %  reduction  in 
emissions  by  2040. 
In  2024,  the  Member  States 
submitted updated national energy and climate plans for 
2021–2030,  reflecting  the  increased  ambition  of  the 
revised EU legislation. In 2024, the European Commission 
also  released, 
jointly  with  the  EEA,  the  first-ever 
European climate risk assessment. 

Over  the  last  three  decades,  since  1990,  the  EU  has 
achieved  steady  decreases  in  its  emissions,  reaching  a 
running total in 2022 of –32.5 % (131). However, the  EU 
and 
its  Member  States  need  to  step  up  their 
implementation  efforts  and  accelerate  emissions 
reduction to stay on track to reach their targets of a 55 % 
reduction  in  net  GHG  emissions  by  2030  and  climate 
neutrality  by  2050.  Between  1990  and  2022,  net  GHG 
emissions of Malta decreased by 13 %, making it one of 
the countries with below-average decrease. 

adopted,  and 
implementing the legislation. 

the  Member  States  have  been 

The  key  strategic  document  at  country  level  is  the 
National  Energy  and  Climate  Plan  (NECP) (133).  Malta 
submitted  its  updated  plan  in  January  2025  after  the 
deadline set by the Regulation on the Governance of the 
Energy  Union  and  Climate  Action134.  The  European 
Commission assessed the plan and the extent to which 
Malta  has  followed  the  recommendations  for  the  draft 
version. The findings from the assessment are: 

• 

• 

• 

Emissions under the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) 
will increase by 29% in 2030 compared to 2005. This 
means that Malta in on the opposite trajectory and 
is  not  able  to  achieve  its  target  without  additional 
measures.  Malta 
is  the  only  Member  State 
projecting the increase of ESR emissions. 
The latest projections show a gap to the  Land Use, 
Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation 
target, meaning that current levels of removals have 
been insufficient.  
There  are  still  gaps  in  the  target  for  the  share  of 
renewable energy and energy efficiency targets that 
must be closed. 

To minimise the impacts of climate policies on vulnerable 
people  and  sectors,  Malta  is  using  the  Just  Transition 
Fund  and  will  use  Social  Climate  Fund  from  2026  (for 
more information, see Chapter 5 below). 

Figure 28: Total GHG emissions (excluding international 
aviation) (%), 1990–2022 

It 

includes 

transition. 

the  green 

The  ‘Fit  for  55’  legislative  package  reflects  the  need  to 
speed  up 
(i) 
strengthening  and  expanding  the  EU  emissions  trading 
system (ETS), with the creation of a new, second, ETS for 
transport and buildings together with a dedicated Social 
Climate  Fund  to  help  citizens  during  the  transition;  (ii) 
increasing  targets  under  the  effort  sharing  regulation; 
and  (iii)  a  revised  regulation  for  Land  Use,  Land  Use 
Change  and  Forestry (132).  The  package  has  been  fully 

(131)  EU net domestic emissions, including the land use, land-use 
change and forestry (LULUCF) sector and excluding 
international aviation. 

(133)  More  information  about  NECP  is  on  the  dedicated  website 

https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/energy-strategy/national-
energy-and-climate-plans-necps_en 

(132)  A  full  overview  of  the  Fit  for  55  package  is  available  at 

134 Article 14 of regulation 2018/1999 on the Governance of the Energy 

https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-
2019-2024/european-green-deal/delivering-european-green-
deal/fit-55-delivering-proposals_en. 

Union and Climate Action 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
 
The EU emissions trading system 

The EU  ETS is the key tool for reducing  GHG emissions 
cost-effectively across all Member States. It is the world’s 
biggest carbon market, covering around 40 % of the EU’s 
total  GHG  emissions 
from  electricity  and  heat 
generation, the manufacturing industry, aviation within 
Europe (135) and, from 2024, maritime transport also. 

The  system  sets  a  limit  or  cap  on  the  total  amount  of 
GHGs  that  can  be  emitted  at  the  EU  level.  Within  this 
limit,  companies  buy  emissions  allowances 
(one 
allowance  gives  the  right  to  emit  1 tonne  of  CO2  eq 
(carbon  dioxide  equivalent)),  in  auctions  or  through 
trading  allowances  with  others.  The  cap  is  reduced 
annually to ensure that overall emissions in the sectors 
covered decrease over time. 

The emissions under the ETS increased by 6 % from 2005 
to 2023. 

The  increase  is  caused  by  the  sharp  rise  in  aviation 
emissions, which plays a crucial role in Malta’s emissions. 

Disregarding air transport, all of Malta’s greenhouse gas 
emissions  covered  by  the  EU  emissions  trading  system 
(ETS) come from power generation. Malta’s power sector 
registered  significant  greenhouse  gas  reductions 
in 
2013–2018, by 59 %, but its emissions have been slightly 
increasing  thereafter.  In  2023,  Malta’s  greenhouse  gas 
emissions from power generation were 8 % above 2018 
levels. 

From 2027, a new emissions trading system, called ETS2, 
for  buildings,  road  transport  and  additional  sectors 
(mainly  industry  not  covered  by  the  current  ETS)  will 
become  fully  operational (136).  Member  States  should 
have  notified  full  transposition  the  provisions  of  the 
revised  EU  ETS  directive  related  to  the  new  ETS2  into 
law  by  30 June  2024.  Malta  did  not 
national 
communicate full transposition into national law by this 
deadline.  For  this  reason,  on  25  July  2024,  the 
Commission  opened  infringement  proceedings  against 
Malta 

Malta  has  since  notified  transposition  of  the  relevant 
provisions  of  the  ETS2  Directive  to  the  Commission.  The 
monitoring and reporting requirements and the obligation 
to  hold  a  permit  to  carry  out  activities  under  ETS2 
commenced on 1 January 2025. 

The  Commission  also  opened  infringement  procedures 
against Malta on 25 January 2024, by sending a letter of 
formal  notice  for  failing  to  fully  transpose  previous 
revisions  of  ETS  directive (137)  into  national  law.  Malta 

(135)  Flights  between  the  EU  Member  States  including  departing 
flights to Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. 
(https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2023.130.01.0134.01.ENG) 

(EU)  2023/959 

(136)  Directive 

Malta  36 

since  notified 

has 
abovementioned directives to the Commission. 

transpositions  of 

full 

the 

Effort sharing 

The  Effort  Sharing  Regulation (ESR) (138)  covers  GHG 
emissions  from  domestic  transport  (excluding  CO₂ 
emissions  from  aviation),  buildings,  agriculture,  small 
industry  and  waste.  Emissions  from  these  sectors 
account for around 60 % of the EU’s domestic emissions. 
The  regulation  sets  the  EU-wide  target  to  reduce 
emissions  from  the  effort  sharing  sectors  by  40 %  by 
2030 compared to 2005 levels. This overall target for the 
EU  translates  to  binding  national  emission  reduction 
targets for each Member State. Malta‘s target is –19 %. 

In  addition  to  the  2030  targets,  Member  States  have 
annual  GHG  emissions 
(annual  emission 
allocations), reducing every year until 2030. 

limits 

There  is  some  flexibility  to  take  account  of  annual 
fluctuations  in  emissions,  by  trading  emissions  and 
transfers from the ETS and LULUCF. 

Based  on  historical  emissions  and  the  most  updated 
projections Malta will need to implement new measures 
and/or use available flexibilities to achieve its 2030 ESR 
target. Projections show a total increase of emissions by 
29.4 %.  That  means  that  gap  to  the  target  is  48.4 
percentage points. It is the biggest gap in the EU. 

The largest contributor is the domestic transport sector, 
which accounted for 49 % of all effort sharing emissions 
in 2022. While projections show a steady decline in the 
future, transport emissions increased by 37 % from 2005 
levels and Malta’s actions to curb rising emissions have 
not  been sufficient. Passenger cars account  for 86 % of 
distance travelled and take up of battery vehicles is still 
slow. 

The buildings sector is a significant concern for Malta as 
well. Its emissions increased by 30 % from 2005. 

(137)  Directive - 2023/959 - EN - EUR-Lex and Directive - 2023/958 - EN 

- EUR-Lex 
(138)  Regulation 

(EU) 

2018/842 

(https://eur-

lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/842). 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
Malta  37 

include  water  management, 
transport, 
fisheries. 

infrastructures  and 
land  use  and  buildings,  agriculture,  and 

Malta  updated  its  national  adaptation  strategy  in  2021 
and 
is  currently  drawing  up  a  vulnerability  risk 
assessment,  to  lay  the  ground  for  integrating  climate 
resilience into sectoral policies. 

Despite recent progress, significant work remains to be 
done  to  bring  Malta’s  adaptation  frameworks,  policies, 
planning and implementation up to the required level of 
maturity. 

Malta  received  six  priority  actions  regarding  climate 
action in the 2022 EIR. There is no progress in car fleet 
electrification  and  public  transport  usage.  The  overall 
share of renewable energy is second lowest in the EU and 
the  progress  is  very  limited.  Emissions  from  waste  and 
agriculture  are  growing.  Finally,  Malta’s  adaptation 
framework  needs  significant  work  despite  recent 
progress. 

2025 priority action 

• 

Implement all polices and measures that are needed 
to  achieve  targets  laid  down  in  the  Effort  Sharing 
Regulation  (ESR)  and  the  Land  Use  and  Land-Use 
Change  and  Forestry  (LULUCF)  Regulation.  More 
detailed  priority  actions  are  set  out 
in  the 
assessment of the final National Energy and Climate 
Plan (NECP)(140).  

Figure 29: Effort-sharing emissions by sector (%), 2022 

Land use, land-use change and forestry 

The  Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) 
sector  plays  a  significant  role  in  achieving  the  EU’s 
climate  neutrality  goal.  In  the  EU,  this  sector  absorbs 
more GHGs than it emits, removing significant volumes 
of carbon from the atmosphere. Thus, it is the only sector 
with negative emissions. 

However, it is not the case in Malta. LULUCF emission are 
slightly above zero without any clear trend in the last five 
years. 

Malta‘s  target  in  2030  is  to  enhance  land  removals  by 
additional –2 kt of CO2 equivalent compared to the yearly 
average  of  the  period  2016–2018.  The  latest  available 
projections show a gap to target of 3 kt of CO2 equivalent 
in  2030.  Therefore,  Malta  needs  to  apply  additional 
measures to reach its 2030 target. 

Adaptation to climate change 

Halting  all  greenhouse  gas  emissions  would  still  not 
prevent  climate  impacts  that  are  already  occurring. 
Therefore,  adaptation  to  climate  change  is  also  a  key 
component of climate policy. 

Malta  is  in  two  out  of  three  regions  identified  as  a 
hotspots  of  climate  risks  most  affected  by  climate 
low-lying  coastal 
change –  Southern  Europe  and 
regions (139).  Malta  remains  vulnerable  to  flash  urban 
floods,  water  scarcity  and  heatwaves,  with  a  low  but 
improvable climate protection gap. Malta has identified 
several  critical  sectors  that  require  adaptation.  These 

(139)  European Climate Risk Assessment (EUCRA). 2024. Available at 

(140)   National energy and climate plans. 

European Climate Risk Assessment (europa.eu) 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Malta  38 

Part II: Enabling framework – implementation tools 

5. Financing 

The EU budget supports climate investment in Malta with 
in  the  2021–2027  period,  with 
significant  amounts 
revenues  from  the  ETS  also  feeding  into  the  national 
budget.  During  2020–2022,  Malta’s  revenues  from 
auctioning  reached  EUR 87 million  in  total,  with  all  of  it 
spent on climate and energy. 

In  addition,  the  annual  investment  needed  to  meet  its 
environmental  objectives 
in  the  areas  of  pollution 
prevention and control, the circular economy and waste, 
water protection and management, and biodiversity and 
ecosystems is estimated to be EUR 370 million per year in 
Malta. 

While  these  four  environmental  areas  currently  receive 
total funding of around EUR 357 million per year,  the gap, 
due to some mismatch with the needs,  range up to EUR 
90 million per year. 

The  annual  environmental  investment  gap  is  mostly 
related  to  pollution  prevention  and  control  and  circular 
economy. 

Climate finance landmarks 

EU funding for climate action 

The EU budget supports climate action in the EU-27 with 
EUR 657.8 billion  in  the  2021–2027  budgetary  period 
across  the  various  programmes  and  funds,  representing 
an  overall  34.3 %  contribution  level.  Of  this,  cohesion 
policy provides EUR 120 billion (over half of it through the 
European  Regional  Development  Fund  (ERDF)),  the 
Recovery  and  Resilience  Facility  (RRF)  EUR 275.7 billion 
CAP EUR 145.9 billion (141). 

In  Malta,  the  EU  cohesion  policy  (considering  the  EU 
for 
contribution  amount)  provides  EUR 243 million 

(141)  European Commission, Statement of Estimates of the European 
Commission – For the financial year 2025, Publications Office of 
the 
Luxembourg,  2024,  pp. 94–96, 
https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/7a0420e1
-599e-4246-9131-ccb7d505d6d9_en?filename=DB2025-
Statement-of-Estimates_1.pdf. 

European  Union, 

(142)  See 

Open 
(https://cohesiondata.ec.europa.eu/).  

Cohesion 

the 

Data 

Platform 

(143)  EU  Commission  datasets  and  the  Recovery  and  Resilience 
Scoreboard  (https://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/recovery-
and-resilience-scoreboard/index.html).  

climate action in 2021–2027 (with around half of this via 
the  ERDF),  with  a  further  EUR 13.6 million  from  the 
European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (142). 

The  RRF  contributes  to  climate  finance  in  Malta  with 
EUR 0.23 billion  up  to  2026,  representing  68.8 %  of  the 
recovery and resilience plan (143). 

The  European 
(EIB)  provided 
Investment  Bank 
EUR 109.9 billion  financing  across  the  EU-27  between 
2021  and  mid-2024  to  support  energy,  transport  and 
industry  projects  that  are  aligned  with  the  EU’s  climate 
objectives (144). 

National financing, including EU emissions trading 
system revenues 

amounted 

to  EUR 16 million 

Revenues  from  the  auctioning  of  emission  allowances 
under  the  EU  ETS,  which  feed  directly  into  national 
budgets, 
in  2020, 
EUR 31 million  in  2021  and  EUR 40 million  in  2022  in 
Malta, totalling EUR 87 million in the three-year period. In 
Malta,  all  revenues  go  to  a  fund  for  climate  and  energy 
projects, which is additionally co-funded from the general 
budget (145). 

From the remaining part of the EU ETS revenues that feed 
into  the  Innovation  Fund  and  the  Modernisation  Fund, 
further  support  is  available  to  climate  action  at  the  EU 
level (146). 

the  environment 

It should be noted that investment in climate action also 
supports 
the 
environmental  investments  described  in  the  following 
sections  cannot  be  regarded  as  entirely  additional  to 
climate investment (147). 

therefore, 

and, 

(145)  European Commission: Directorate-General for Climate Action, 
Progress Report 2023 – Climate action, Publications Office of the 
European 
2023, 
https://climate.ec.europa.eu/news-your-voice/news/climate-
action-progress-report-2023-2023-10-24_en. 

Luxembourg, 

Union, 

(146)  European Commission: Directorate-General for Climate Action, 
Progress Report 2023 – Climate action, Publications Office of the 
European 
2023, 
https://climate.ec.europa.eu/news-your-voice/news/climate-
action-progress-report-2023-2023-10-24_en. 

Luxembourg, 

Union, 

(147)  NB:  Indirect  investments  (from  climate  and  other  policies)  in 

(144)  A 

list  of 

is  provided  by 
(https://www.eib.org/en/projects/loans/index.htm).  

financed  projects 

the  EIB 

support of the environment are accounted for via the tracking. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Environmental financing and investments 

This section describes Malta’s investment needs, current 
financing  and  gaps  as 
four 
environmental  objectives  beyond  climate  objectives, 
namely  tackling  pollution,  the  circular  economy  and 
waste,  water  protection  and  management,  and 
biodiversity and ecosystems (148). 

relate 

they 

the 

to 

Malta  39 

Agricultural 

European 
Guarantee Fund 
European  Agricultural  Fund 
for Rural Development 

Maritime, 
European 
Fisheries  and  Aquaculture 
Fund 

Other MFF sources 

RRF (d) (2021–2026) 

11.0 
27.4 

8.6 

46.6 (c) 

93.7 

The environment overall 

Investment needs 

The  overall  environmental 
investment  needs  to  be 
sufficient  to  enable  Malta  to  meet  its  objectives  in  the 
areas  of  pollution  prevention  and  control,  the  circular 
economy and waste, water protection and management, 
and biodiversity and ecosystems. The required investment 
is  estimated  to  be  EUR 370 million  per  year  (in  2022 
prices). 

A  significant  part  of  the  estimated  requirement,  around 
EUR 248 million per year, can be attributed to the need to 
support  circular  economy.  For  pollution  prevention  and 
control  and  water,  the  annual  needs  are  around 
EUR 60 million  a  year  (each),  and  for  biodiversity  and 
ecosystems  they  are  at  least  EUR 5 million  per  year  (in 
2022 prices). 

Current investments 

To implement the environmental investments needed, the 
available  financing  is  estimated  to  currently  reach  an 
annual  EUR 357 million  in  Malta  from  EU  and  national 
sources combined (in 2022 prices). 

Total  environmental  funding  from  the  multiannual 
financial  framework  (MFF)  is  estimated  to  reach  around 
EUR 313.1 million for Malta in total, during 2021–2027 (or 
EUR 44.7 million per year). 

Table 1: Key environmental allocations from EU funds to 
Malta (million EUR), 2021–2027 
Instrument 

Allocations 

Cohesion policy 
ERDF 
Cohesion Fund 
Just Transition Fund 

CAP 

219.5 (a) 
104.9 
105.3 
9.3 
38.4 (b) 

(148)  Research,  development  and  innovation  is  accounted  for  under 
each environmental objective. The financing needs, baselines and 
gaps  estimates  are  based  on  the  Directorate-General  for 
Environment’s 
internal  analysis  (of  2024).  Throughout  this 
chapter,  specific  references are  provided to  the  most  important 
data sources used. 

(149)  https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/programmes/life_en. 
(150)  European  Commission,  Horizon  Europe,  https://research-and-
innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-
programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe_en. 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

European  Commission,  2021-2027  cohesion  policy  (planned) 
allocations in EU amount excluding national co-financing, based on 
the  tracking  in  the  Common  Provisions  Regulation  (CPR,  2021) 
Annex I. Please note potential data changes that may have arisen 
between the EIR preparation cut-off date (31 October 2024) and 
its  publication  date.  Source  and 
information: 
https://cohesiondata.ec.europa.eu/2021-2027-
Categorisation/2021-2027-Planned-finances-detailed-
categorisation/hgyj-gyin/about_data. 

further 

Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council  of  2 December  2021  establishing  rules  on  support  for 
strategic  plans  to  be  drawn  up  by  Member  States  under  the 
common agricultural policy (CAP strategic plans) and financed by 
the  European  Agricultural  Guarantee  Fund  (EAGF)  and  by  the 
European  Agricultural  Fund  for  Rural  Development  (EAFRD)  and 
repealing Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013 
(OJ 
https://eur-
p. 1), 
lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/2115. 

6.12.2021, 

Annex XI, 

L 435 

Note that 2021-2027 combines factual data for 2021 and 2022 and 
expenditure  under  the  relevant  specific  objectives  (SOs)  of  the 
CAP strategic plans from 2023, using the EU biodiversity tracking 
methodology  (https://commission.europa.eu/system/files/2023-
06/Biodiversity%20tracking%20methodology%20for%20each%20
programme%202023.pdf). Source: European Commission.  

Space  Fund,  Horizon  Europe,  financial 
environment and the Connecting Europe Facility. 

instrument  for  the 

Outside  the  MFF.  Note  that  the  RRF  applies  a  similar 
environmental tracking scheme (set in the RRF Regulation, Annex 
VI)  as  the  EU’s  cohesion  policy.  RRF  dataset  version  used:  July 
2024, prior to 2025 revisions. Data source: European Commission. 

Malta,  in  addition  to  receiving  EU  funds  earmarked 
specifically  for  it  in  2021–2027,  can  also  benefit  from 
funding programmes that can be accessed at the EU level 
and which are open to all Member States. These include 
instrument  for  the  environment  (LIFE) 
the  financial 
programme 
Europe 
(EUR 5.4 billion) (149),  Horizon 
(EUR 95.5 billion) (150),  the  Connecting  Europe  Facility 
(EUR 33.7 billion) (151)  and  funds  that  can  be  mobilised 
through the InvestEU programme (152). 

(151)  The  Connecting  Europe  Facility 

includes 
EUR 11.3 billion  transferred  from  the  Cohesion  Fund,  of  which 
30 % will be made available, on a competitive basis, to all Member 
States  eligible  for  the  Cohesion  Fund.  The  remaining  70 %  will 
respect the national envelopes until 31 December 2023. 

(Transport)  also 

(152)  The  InvestEU  Fund  is  set  to  mobilise  over  EUR 372 billion  of 
investment through an EU budget guarantee of EUR 26.2 billion to 
back  the  investment  of  financial  partners such as  the  EIB  group 
and others. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
Malta’s  recovery  and  resilience  plan  supports  climate 
objectives  through funding of  EUR 0.23 billion (68.8 % of 
total), with no additional amount for the environment. 

The  EU’s  total  national  expenditure  on  environmental 
protection  (operating  plus  capital  expenditure)  was 
EUR 298 billion  in  2020  and  EUR 321 billion  in  2021, 
representing  around  2.2 %  of  EU-27  GDP.  In  Malta,  the 
total national environmental protection expenditure was 
EUR 331 million  in  2020  and  EUR 327 million  in  2021, 
representing 2.5 % and 2.1 % of GDP, respectively. 

The  national  capital  expenditure 
(investment)  on 
environmental  protection  in  the  EU-27  amounted  to 
EUR 54.5 billion  in  2020  and  EUR 59.9 billion  in  2021, 
representing around 0.4 % of the EU’s GDP. In Malta, the 
national  environmental  protection  investment  reached 
EUR 58 million  in  2020,  decreasing  to  EUR 49 million  in 
2021, representing around 0.3–0.4 % of GDP. 

Broken  down  by  institutional  sector,  19 %  of  Malta’s 
national  environmental  protection  investment  (capital 
expenditure) comes from the general government budget, 
with 72 % coming from specialist private-sector producers 
(of environmental protection services, such as waste and 
water  companies)  and  9 %  from  the  business  sector, 
whose environmental activities are usually ancillary to its 
main  activities.  At  the  EU  level,  38 %  of  environmental 
protection  investment  comes  from  governments,  40 % 
from  specialist  private-sector  producers  and  22 %  from 
the general business sector (153). 

Malta’s  total  financing  for  environmental  investment 
reaches  an  estimated  EUR 357 million  per  year  (in  2022 
prices),  including  EU  funding  and  national  public  and 
national private expenditure. Of the total, the share of EU 
funds  (including  EIB  funds)  reaches  15 %,  with  around 
85 % national financing. The total public financing (EU plus 
national public) represents 31 % of the total. 

The gap 

To meet its four environmental objectives beyond climate 
change, the additional investment need over the current 
levels  (i.e.  the  gap)  reaches  up  to  an  estimated  EUR 90  
million per yearin Malta154, representing around  0.53 % of 
the  national  GDP,  being  lower  than  the  EU-average 
(0.77 %). 

Malta  40 

Figure 30: Environmental financing, needs and gaps  per 
Member State (% of GDP) 

Source: Analysis of Directorate-General for Environment. 

The  following  table  provides the  distributions  of  Malta’s 
environmental  investment  gap  (expressed  in  various 
forms) by environmental objective. 

Table 2: Summary of environmental investment gaps in 
Malta per year, 2021–2027 

Environmental 
objective 

Pollution prevention 
and control 

Circular economy and 
waste 

Water management 
and water industries 

Biodiversity and 
ecosystems 

Investment gap per year  

% of GDP 

 % of 
total 

Million 
EUR 
(2022 
prices) 

32 

31 

36.1 

0.2 

34.6 

0.2 

26 

29.3 

0.2 

– 

– 

– 

Total 

 90 

100.0 

 0.53 

NB: For Biodiversity, data consistency is to be further verified. 

Source: Directorate-General for Environment analysis. 

(153)  Eurostat, 

‘Environmental  protection  expenditure  accounts’, 

env_ac_epea. 

154  NB.  While  a  simple  difference  of  the  total  needs  and  the  total 
financing would suggest a lower (EUR 13 million per year) gap, in 

fact  the  current  financing  has  some  mismatches  to  the  needs, 
which results in a higher gap.     

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
Pollution prevention and control 

Investment needs 

In  pollution  prevention  and  control,  Malta’s  investment 
needs  are  estimated  to  reach  EUR 57 million  per  year 
(including  baseline  investments)  in  2021–2027.  Most  of 
this,  EUR 49 million,  relates  to  air  pollution  control,  to 
comply with the clean air requirements for the five main 
air  pollutants  under  the  NECD  by  2030.  The  estimated 
needs to reduce environmental noise reach EUR 26 million 
per  year,  most  of  which  is  delivered  by  the  (same) 
sustainable  energy  and  transport  investments  that  also 
benefit clean air (155). Industrial site remediation requires 
an  estimated  EUR 3 million  per  year.  Microplastics 
pollution  and  the  chemicals  strategy  require  around 
EUR 2 million per year (each) (156). 

Current investments 

investment 

The  current 
levels  supporting  pollution 
prevention and control reach an estimated EUR 24 million 
per  year  in  Malta  in  2021–2027.  Most  of  the  financing 
benefits clean air and noise. 

In Malta, the EU MFF provides an  estimated 46 % of the 
clean  air  financing  (mostly  via  cohesion  policy),  with  a 
further 52 % from the RRF, adding up to 98 % of the total. 
National sources reach 2 % (157). 

The gap 

To meet its environmental objectives concerning pollution 
prevention  and  control  (towards  zero  pollution),  Malta 
needs  to  provide  an  additional  EUR 32 million  per  year 
(0.19 % of GDP), mostly related to clean air and noise. The 
the 
adequate 
investments included for sustainable energy and transport 
would largely deliver this, while in many Member States 
additional measures and investments may be required to 
comply with the ammonia reduction requirements. 

implementation  of 

the  NECP  with 

Malta  41 

According to the latest (2023) NAPCP review report (158), 
Malta complied with ammonia reduction requirements in 
2020 and 2021, and it is not at risk of non-compliance with 
ammonia concerning the NECD’s 2030 emission reduction 
commitments either, based on the policies and measures 
in  its  NAPCP  that  take  into  account  climate,  energy  and 
CAP plans and financing baselines. 

Circular economy and waste 

Investment needs 

Malta’s investment needs in circular economy and waste 
(including  baseline 
reach  EUR 248 billion  per  year 
investments).  Most  of  this,  around  EUR 212 million  per 
year, relates to circular economy measures in the mobility, 
food  and  built  environment  systems,  with  a  further 
for  waste  management 
EUR 35 million  necessary 
(municipal  and  packaging  waste),  covering  waste 
collection,  biowaste  treatment,  recycling  reprocessors, 
waste-sorting  facilities,  and  digitalisation  of  the  waste 
registry. The amount for waste excludes the investments 
needed for the uptake of circularity and waste prevention 
across the economy (159). 

Current investments 

Circular economy investments across the economy reach 
around  EUR 187 million  per  year  in  Malta  in  2021-2027, 
with  a 
for  waste 
further  EUR 29 million  provided 
management that does not constitute circular economy. 

Around 2.4 % of this combined financing for circularity and 
waste  comes  from  the  EU  MFF,  with  no  further 
contribution from the RRF. The share of national sources 
reaches 97.6 % of the total financing (160). 

The gap 

To  meet  its  environmental  objectives  concerning  the 
circular  economy  and  waste,  Malta  needs  to  increase 

(155)  2021 

assessment 

Phenomena 

project 
(https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-
/publication/f4cd7465-a95d-11eb-9585-01aa75ed71a1)  and  the 
Directive 
Commission’s 
implementation 
report 
(https://environment.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-
03/COM_2023_139_1_EN_ACT_part1_v3.pdf). 

Environmental 

Noise 

2023 

(156)  European  Commission,  Third  Clean  Air  Outlook,  Brussels,  2022, 

https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/air/clean-air-
outlook_en. See also the impact assessment for the revision of the 
AAQD, available from the Commission web page on the proposed 
revision 
(https://environment.ec.europa.eu/publications/revision-eu-
ambient-air-quality-legislation_en). 

(157)  Through the tracking of EU funds, EIB projects and national 

expenditure (environmental protection expenditure accounts, 
Eurostat). Note that the bulk of clean air financing is provided as 
a contribution from climate (energy and transport) measures, as 
per the tracking schemes in the Common Provisions Regulation 
Annex I and the RRF Regulation Annex VI. Further information on 
clean air tracking: 

https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/0a80484e-
2409-4749-94c6-
3b23bc6bae8f_en?filename=Clean%20air%20methodology_0.pdf 
(158)  European Commission, ‘National air pollution control programmes 
website, 
European 

Commission 

projections’, 

and 
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/air/reducing-
emissions-air-pollutants/national-air-pollution-control-
programmes-and-projections_en. 

(159)  See Systemiq and Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Achieving ‘Growth 
Within’, 2017; and European Commission: Directorate-General for 
Environment, Study on investment needs in the waste sector and 
on  the  financing  of  municipal  waste  management  in  Member 
States,  Publications  Office  of  the  European  Union,  Luxembourg, 
2019, 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-
/publication/4d5f8355-bcad-11e9-9d01-01aa75ed71a1. 

(160)  Waste management and circular economy expenditure tracking in 
the  EU  funds,  EIB  projects  and  in  the  national  expenditure 
(Eurostat).  Datasets:  environmental  protection  expenditure 
accounts  (env_epi)  and  circular  economy  private  investments 
(cei_cie012). 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
investments  by  an  estimated 
circular  economy 
EUR 25 million per year, with an additional EUR 6 million 
concerning  waste  management  action,  not  belonging  to 
circular 
to 
EUR 31 million  per  year,  representing  0.18 %  of  Malta’s 
GDP. 

economy.  Combined, 

amounts 

this 

Of  the  circular  economy  gap,  EUR 7 million  relates  to 
recent  initiatives,  such  as  the  eco-design  for  sustainable 
products,  packaging  and  packaging  waste,  labelling  and 
digital  tools,  CRM  recycling,  and  measures  proposed 
under the amendment of the Waste Framework Directive, 
and EUR 19 million constitutes further investment need to 
unlock Malta’s circular economy potential. 

Water protection and management 

Investment needs 

The  annual  water  investment  needs  reach  an  estimated 
EUR 61 million  (in  2022  prices)  in  Malta.  This  comprises 
investment needs both for the water industry and for the 
protection  and  the  management  of  water.  Of  the  total 
annual need, EUR 13 million relates to the management of 
waste  water  (also  including  additional  costs  associated 
with  the  revised  UWWTD).  A  further  EUR 25 million  is 
necessary  for  drinking-water-related  investments  and 
around 
and 
for 
management of water (161). 

the  protection 

EUR 23 million 

Malta  42 

The gap 

Despite  Malta’s  current  water  financing 
level  being 
seemingly in line with that of the needs, there is an EUR 
26  million  water  investment  gap  to  meet  the  various 
environmental  targets  under  the  Water  Framework 
Directive  and  the  Floods  Directive,  arising  from  a 
structural mismatch of the financing and the needs: while 
in  wastewater  management  seems  to  be 
financing 
sufficient,  there  seems  to  be  a  financing  gap  concerning 
the Water Framework Directive in general.  

Biodiversity and ecosystems 

Investment needs 

The investment needs for biodiversity and ecosystems are 
estimated to be EUR 5 million per year (in 2022 prices) in 
Malta in 2021–2027. This includes the following financing 
needs: 

• 

•  Malta’s prioritised action framework (163) concerning 
the  Natura  2000  areas:  EUR 26 million  per  year, 
mostly running costs; 
additional  BDS  costs (164)  (there  may  be  additional 
costs,  but  the  annual  cost  of  the  strategy  is  lower 
than the framework costs); 
sustainable 
EUR 1.3 million per year. 

management 

costs (165): 

soil 

• 

Current investments 

Current investments 

Water investments in  Malta are estimated to be around 
EUR 60 million per year (in 2022 prices) in 2021–2027. Of 
this,  EUR 39 million  supports  wastewater  management 
and EUR 21 million drinking water. 

Of the total financing, 19.7 % is provided by the EU MFF 
(mostly through cohesion policy), with no further support 
from the RRF. The bulk of financing comes from national 
sources (80.3 %) (162). 

The current level of biodiversity financing is estimated to 
be EUR 56 million per year (in 2022 prices) in 2021–2027. 
90 % of this is considered direct financing to biodiversity 
and ecosystems, with a  100 % coefficient  in the tracking 
schemes. 

4.5 % of the total financing is estimated to come from EU 
cohesion  policy,  9.2 %  from  CAP,  5.79 %  from  Horizon 
Europe,  around  2.2 %  from  LIFE  and  1.9 %  from  the 
European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund. The 
EU  MFF  altogether  accounts for  24.3 %  of  the  financing. 
The rest, 76 %, comes from national sources (166). 

(161)  See  European  Commission,  ‘Estimating  investment  needs  and 
financing capacities for water-related investment in EU Member 
2020, 
28 May 
States’, 
https://commission.europa.eu/news/estimating-investment-
needs-and-financing-capacities-water-related-investment-eu-
member-states-2020-05-28_en;  and  OECD,  Financing  Water 
Supply, Sanitation and flood Protection: Challenges in EU Member 
States  and  policy  options,  OECD  Publishing,  Paris,  2020, 
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/financing-water-
supply-sanitation-and-flood-protection_6893cdac-en. 

(162)  Water investment levels are estimated through tracking EU funds, 
EIB projects and national expenditure (environmental protection 
expenditure accounts, Eurostat). 

(163)  European Commission, ‘Financing Natura 2000 – Prioritised action 
website, 

Commission 

frameworks’, 
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/nature-and-
biodiversity/natura-2000/financing-natura-2000_en. 

European 

(164)  See European Commission: Directorate-General for Environment, 
Biodiversity  Financing  and  Tracking –  Final  report,  Publications 
2022, 
Office 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-
/publication/793eb6ec-dbd6-11ec-a534-
01aa75ed71a1/language-en. 

European  Union, 

Luxembourg, 

the 

of 

(165)  See Proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the 
Council  on  soil  monitoring  and  resilience  (Soil  Monitoring  Law) 
2023, 
COM(2023) 416 
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/publications/proposal-
directive-soil-monitoring-and-resilience_en.  

5 July 

final 

of 

(166)  Based 

on 

biodiversity 

tracking 

in 

the 

EU 

budget 

(https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/3f466d71-92a7-49eb-9c63-
6cb0fadf29dc/library/8e44293a-d97f-496d-8769-50365780acde), 
and national expenditure into biodiversity from the Classification 
of the Functions of Governments accounts. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
Malta is the Member State with the second highest share 
of biodiversity financing programmed under CAP: 25.7 % 
of  the  entire  CAP  budget  for  Malta  is  estimated  to 
contribute to biodiversity. However, only 5 % of cohesion 
in  2021–2027  (disregarding  ESF+)  are 
policy  funds 
envisaged to support biodiversity, and no RRF funds have 
been  programmed  for  investments  in  biodiversity  in 
Malta. 

Figure 31: 2021–2027 contributions to biodiversity from 
the main EU instruments per Member State (% of policy 
total) 

NB: ESF+, European Social Fund Plus. 

The gap 

To  meet  the  environmental  objectives  concerning  the 
protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems 
and other relevant cross-cutting measures, based on the 
available information, a significant investment gap cannot 
be observed in the case of Malta. 

Public financial management 

Green budgeting practices 

Green  budgeting  refers  to  the  use  of  budgetary  tools  to 
achieve climate and environmental goals. Some Member 
States  already  use  green  budgeting  tools  for  identifying 
and  tracking  green  expenditures  and/or  revenues  (167). 
Green budgeting practices provide increased transparency 
on the environmental implications of budgetary policies.  

The  Commission  has  developed  a  non-mandatory  green 
budgeting  reference  framework  that  brings  together 

(167)  European  Commission,  Green  Budgeting  in  the  EU.  Key  Insights 
from the 2023 European Commission Survey of Green Budgeting 
Practices, 
https://economy-
finance.ec.europa.eu/economic-and-fiscal-governance/national-
fiscal-frameworks-eu-member-states/green-budgeting-
eu_en#:~:text=European%20Commission%20Green%20Budgetin
g%20Survey%C2%A0.  

2023, 

(168)  European  Commission, 

reference 

framework’, 

‘European  Union  green  budgeting 
https://economy-

2022, 

Malta  43 

methodologies  for  assessing  the  impacts  of  budgets  on 
climate and environmental goals (168). 

To help Member States develop national green budgeting 
and  thereby  improve  policy  coherence  and  support  the 
green  transition,  the  Commission  facilitated  a  Technical 
Support Instrument (TSI) project on green budgeting from 
2021 to 2024 (169), in which Malta participated. 

Beyond green budgeting, to improve policy outcomes the 
Commission  has  also  drawn  up  climate-proofing  and 
sustainability-proofing  guidance (170)  as  tools  to  assess 
project  eligibility  and  compliance  with  environmental 
legislation and criteria. 

Green taxation and tax reform 

Total environmental taxes amounted to EUR 287 million in 
Malta in 2022, representing 1.7 % of its GDP (EU average: 
2.0 %).  Energy  taxes  formed  the  largest  component  of 
environmental taxes, accounting for 0.8 % of GDP, which 
is lower than the EU average of 1.6 %. Transport taxes, at 
0.63 %  of  GDP,  were  above  the  EU  average  (0.4 %),  as 
were  taxes  on  pollution  and  resources  at  0.18 %  (EU 
average:  0.08 %).  In  2022,  environmental  taxes  in  Malta 
accounted  for  5.8 %  of  total  revenues  from  taxes  and 

finance.ec.europa.eu/economic-and-fiscal-governance/green-
budgeting-eu_en. 

(169)  https://reform-support.ec.europa.eu/what-we-do/revenue-

administration-and-public-financial-management/supporting-
implementation-green-budgeting-practices-eu_en. 

(170)  Commission notice – Technical guidance on the climate proofing 
of infrastructure in the period 2021–2027 (OJ C 373, 16.09.2021, 
p. 1), 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-
/publication/23a24b21-16d0-11ec-b4fe-
01aa75ed71a1/language-en. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
social security contributions (slightly under the EU average 
of 5.0 %) (171). 

water  network  that  will  reduce  non-revenue  water  and 
improve efficiency (174). 

Malta  44 

Figure 32: Environmental taxes per Member State, 2022 

The EU Green Deal emphasises the role of well-designed 
tax  reforms  (e.g.  shifts  from  taxing  labour  to  taxing 
pollution) to boost economic growth and resilience, and to 
foster  a  fairer  society  and  a  just  transition  through  the 
right price signals. The Green Deal promotes the ‘polluter-
pays  principle’,  which  makes  polluters  bear  the  costs  to 
prevent, control and remedy pollution. 

According to a 2024 study (172), Malta applies a charge on 
solid waste disposal (landfilling fee), levies on plastics and 
tyres, a hunting and fishing tax and a volumetric charge for 
water disposal. 

Green bonds and sustainable bonds 

In 2023, the total value of green bonds issued by Member 
States  was  USD 245 billion  (EUR 227 billion),  up  from 
USD 234 billion (EUR 198 billion) in 2021.(173) 

a 

Services  Corporation  with 

In August 2023, Malta’s first green bond was issued by the 
Water 
listing  of 
EUR 25 million.  The  green  bond  will  contribute  to 
financing  Gozo’s  cutting-edge  reverse  osmosis  plant  at 
Hondoq  ir-Rummien  Bay;  solar  farms  that  will  generate 
renewable energy and reduce water services’ reliance on 
fossil fuels; wastewater treatment plants that will improve 
water  quality  and  reduce  pollution;  and  an  enhanced 

(171)  Eurostat, ‘Environmental taxes accounts’, env_eta. 
(172)  European  Commission,  2024  Report  on  Energy  Subsidies  in  the 

European Union, COM(2025). 
https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-
register/detail?ref=COM(2025)17&lang=en 

(173)   Climate 

(www.climatebonds.net).  NB. 
Additionally (and not included in this), national sources indicated 

Initiative 

Bonds 

During  2014–2023,  83 %  of  the  green  bonds  issued  by 
European  countries  (excluding  supranational  entities) 
served objectives in energy, buildings or transport, while 
5 % supported objectives in water, 5.1 % related to land 
use  (with  links  to  nature  and  ecosystems)  and  3.8 % 
applied  to  waste  management.  By  2023,  the  combined 
share of energy, buildings and transport had decreased to 
73 %, the share of waste management and land use had 
increased (to 5.9 % and 8.4 %, respectively) and the share 
of water had remained around 5 %. 

In  2021–2023,  31.7 %  of  the  European  green  bonds 
(excluding  those  issued  by  supranational  entities)  was 
issued  by  financial  corporates,  29.1 %  by  sovereign 
governments  and  23.1 %  by  non-financial  corporates. 
8.3 % of the issuances was linked to government-backed 
entities, 6.4 % to developments banks and 1.4 % to local 
governments. 

Figure 33: Value of green bonds issued per Member State 
(billion EUR), 2021, 2022 and 2023  

Data source: Climatebonds.net, with some additional data from national 
sources (e.g. Croatia, Slovenia). 

Environmentally harmful subsidies 

Addressing  and  phasing  out  environmentally  harmful 
subsidies,  in  particular  fossil  fuel  subsidies  (FFS),  is  a 

EUR 544.8 million issuance for Croatia, in 2022-2023, and a slightly 
higher  amount  for  Slovenia  (+0.27  billion)  during  2021-2023  in 
total. 

(174)  https://www.wsc.com.mt/green-

bonds/#:~:text=Luqa%2C%20Malta%20%E2%80%93%2025%20Ju
ly%202023,and%20the%20EU's%20Green%20Deal. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
further  step  towards  achieving  the  eighth  environment 
action  programme  objectives  and 
the  enabling 
conditions (175). FFS are costly for public budgets and make 
it difficult to achieve European Green Deal objectives. 

The overall downward trend of FFS mentioned in past EIRs 
was disrupted from 2022 due to the European response to 
the 2021 energy crisis and subsequent increase in energy 
prices. 

As  a  direct  consequence,  annual  FFS  in  the  EU  have 
increased to EUR 109 billion in 2023 from EUR 57 billion in 
2020. From 2021 to 2023, there was a marked increase in 
annual FFS of 72 % in the EU (176). 

For the majority of the Member States (16), the year 2022 
saw  a  peak  in  the  amount  of  overall  FFS.  A  decline  was 
then observed in 2023 (177). In particular, FFS for coal and 
lignite, natural gas and oil increased in 2022 and a strong 
increase was observed for natural gas subsidies. 

In  Malta,  energy  subsidies  have  increased  since  2021, 
reaching  EUR 0.7 billion  in  2023.  FFS  stayed  at  around 
EUR 10–15 million between 2015 and 2020, and increased 
to EUR 0.2 billion in 2021 and to 0.6 billion in 2023. 

As a share of GDP, FFS in 2022 ranged from 1.8 % in Croatia 
to less than 0.1 % in Denmark and Sweden. Malta’s value 
reached 1.6 %, above the EU average (0.8 %) (178). 

Malta  45 

Figure 34:  Energy  subsidies  by  energy  carrier  (billion 
EUR), 2015–2023 

NB: RES, renewable energy source. 

Source: analysis of Directorate-General Energy 

The  2022  EIR  delivered  priority  actions  to  Malta  to  (i) 
devise  an  environmental  financing  strategy  to  maximise 
opportunities  for  closing  environmental  implementation 
gaps, bringing together all relevant administrative levels; 
and  (ii)  ensure  an  increased  level  of  financing  for  the 
environment, in particular from private sources (which are 
currently  around  a  third  of  the  total),  to  cover  the  high 
level  of  investment  needs  across  the  environmental 
objectives by closing the investment gaps. 

Malta’s  overall  environmental  investment  gap  level  has 
decreased since 2022 and is lower (at 0.08 % of GDP) than 
the EU average. 

2025 priority action 

•  Use more national funding (for instance by increasing 
taxes  in  favour  of  the  environment  and  reducing 
environmentally  harmful  subsidies),  EU  funding  and 
private funding to help close the investment gap. 

(175)  Article 3(h) and 3(v) of the eighth environment action programme. 
(176)  European  Commission,  2024  Report  on  Energy  Subsidies  in  the 

European Union, COM(2025). 

https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-

register/detail?ref=COM(2025)17&lang=en 

(177)  16 Member States: BE, EE, IE, EL, ES, FR, HR, IT, CY, LT, HU, NL, AT, 

PT, RO and SE. 

(178)  European  Commission,  2024  Report  on  Energy  Subsidies  in  the 

European Union, COM(2025). 

https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-

register/detail?ref=COM(2025)17&lang=enEuropean.  

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Malta  46 

6. Environmental governance 

Information, public participation and access 
to justice 

Table 3: Malta dashboard on implementation of the Inspire 
Directive, 2016–2022 

2016 

2023 

Legend 

Citizens can more effectively protect the environment 
if  they  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 
businesses  that  environmental  information  is  shared 
efficiently  and  effectively (179).  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 environment, safeguard 
the  rights  of  citizens  and  ensure  accountability  of 
authorities (180).  It  includes  the  right  to  bring  legal 
challenges (‘legal standing’) (181). 

Environmental information 

This  section  focuses  on  the  implementation  of  the 
Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European 
Community  (Inspire)  Directive.  The  Inspire  Directive 
aims  to  set  up  a  European  spatial-data  infrastructure 
for sharing environmental spatial information between 
public authorities across Europe. It is expected that this 
will help policymaking across boundaries and facilitate 
public  access 
information.  Geographic 
information is needed for good governance at all levels 
and should be readily and transparently available. 

this 

to 

Malta’s  performance 
implementing  the  Inspire 
Directive  is  substantial  and  has  been  reviewed  based 
on its 2023 country fiche (182) (see Table 3). 

in 

(179)  The  Aarhus  Convention 

(https://unece.org/environment-
policy/public-participation/aarhus-convention/text), 
the 
Access  to  Environmental  Information  Directive  (Directive 
(https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
2003/4/EC) 
content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32003L0004)  and  the 
Inspire 
Directive 
(https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32007L0002) 
together  create  a 
legal  foundation  for  the  sharing  of 
environmental  information  between  public  authorities  and 
with the public. 

2007/2/EC) 

(Directive 

(180)  These guarantees are explained in the European Commission’s 
2017  notice  on  access  to  justice  in  environmental  matters 

■ 

effective 

Ensure 
coordination  

Effective coordination and data sharing  ■  Implementation 
of  this  provision  is 
or 
substantial 
(nearly) 
fulfilled. 
Outstanding  issues 
are  minor  and  can 
be 
addressed 
easily. 
Percentage > 89 % 

without obstacles   ■ 

Inspire performance indicators 

■ 

■ 

sharing 

Data 

(i)  Conformity  of 
metadata  

(ii)  Conformity  of 
spatial datasets  

(iii) Accessibility of 
spatial 
datasets 
through  view  and 
download services 

■ 

■ 

■ 

■ 

■ 

■ 

(iv)  Conformity  of 
network services 

■ 

■ 

■  Implementation 
this  provision 
of 
started  and 
has 
made 
some  or 
substantial 
progress but is still 
not  close  to  being 
completed. 
Percentage = 31–
89 % 

or 

■  Implementation 
of  this  provision  is 
falling  significantly 
with 
behind, 
no 
limited 
Serious 
progress. 
efforts 
are 
necessary  to  close 
the 
implementation 
gap. 
Percentage < 31 %  

Source:  European  Commission,  ‘Malta’,  Inspire  Knowledge  Base, 
https://knowledge-base.inspire.ec.europa.eu/malta_en. 

Public participation 

Public  involvement  at  both  the  planning  and  the 
project  phase  maximises  transparency  and  social 
acceptance of programmes and projects. Consultation 

(https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:52017XC0818(02))  and  a  related 
2018  citizen’s  guide  (https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-
detail/-/publication/2b362f0a-bfe4-11e8-99ee-
01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF). 

(181)  This  EIR  focuses  on  the  means  used  by  Member  States  to 
guarantee rights of access to justice and legal standing and to 
overcome  other  major  barriers  to  bringing  cases  on 
environmental protection. 

(182)  European  Commission,  ‘Malta’,  Inspire  Knowledge  Base, 
https://knowledge-base.inspire.ec.europa.eu/malta_en.  

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
impact 

assessment  procedure. 

with  the  public  (including  NGOs)  and  environmental, 
local  and  regional  authorities  is  a  key  feature  of  an 
Such 
effective 
consultation  also  provides  an  opportunity  for  public 
authorities and project promoters to engage with the 
public actively and meaningfully by making information 
on  the  likely  significant  effects  widely  available.  If 
carried  out  with  due  diligence  and  taking 
into 
consideration useful public input, this process leads to 
better-informed  decision-making  and  can  promote 
public  acceptance.  Making 
information  available 
lessening 
increases  stakeholder 
resistance,  and  preventing  (or  minimising)  litigation. 
On the other hand, it is paramount that the procedure 
is effective. 

involvement,  thus 

This  section  examines  how  public  involvement  and 
transparency  are  ensured  under  two  instruments, 
namely  the  Environmental  Impact  Assessment  (EIA) 
the  Strategic  Environmental 
Directive (183)  and 
Assessment (SEA) Directive (184). 

EU  law  provides  for  a  flexible  framework  concerning 
EIAs.  The  aim  of  this  framework  is  to  ensure  the 
application of the necessary environmental safeguards, 
while  enabling  speedy  approval  of  projects.  The 
Commission  has  contributed  to  simplifying  and 
accelerating permitting for renewable energy projects 
and  continues  to  support  the  Member  States  in  this 
regard185.    Malta  has  already  taken  steps  aiming  to 
accelerate permit-issuing procedures taking advantage 
of  the  broad  flexibilities  offered  by  the  EU  legal 
framework,  such  as  the  establishment  of  one-stop 
shops  and  accelerated  short  deadlines  for  issuing 
permits for renewable energy projects. 

The  average  speed  in  the  EU  for  issuing  permits 
involving  an  EIA  procedure  is  20.6 months,  with  a 
minimum  duration  of  11.4 months  and  a  maximum 
duration of 75.7 months (186). The duration of each step 
in an EIA process (screening, scoping, EIA report, public 
reasoned  conclusion,  development 
consultation, 
consent) varies considerably between  Member States 

(183)  Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects 
of certain public and private projects on the environment (OJ 
L 26, 
28.1.2012,  p. 1),  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32011L0092. 

(184)  Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the 
Council  of  27 June  2001  on the  assessment  of  the  effects  of 
certain plans and programmes on the environment (OJ L 197, 
21.7.2001, 
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
p. 30), 
content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32001L0042. 

(185)  Commission Staff Working Document  (SWD/2022/0149 final), 
(https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
18 
content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52022SC0149&qid=1653034
229953). 

2022, 

May 

Malta  47 

and projects. The available data for Malta show that its 
average  speed  for  issuing  permits  involving  an  EIA 
process  (25.3 months)  is slower than the EU average. 
Effective use of EU procedures can positively influence 
the  timely  approval  of  activities  underpinning  the 
decarbonisation of the economy on the way to net zero 
by 2050. 

A new report is not yet available on the application and 
effectiveness  of  the  SEA  Directive 
in  the  EU. 
Nevertheless, a support study has been published with 
information by Member State (187). 

As mentioned in the 2022 EIR, general information on 
EIA  and  SEA  processes  is  provided  on  the  website  of 
Malta’s ERA. 

Access to justice 

Access  to  justice,  guaranteed  by  Article 19(1)  of  the 
Treaty  on  European  Union  and  Article 47  of  the  EU 
Charter of Fundamental Rights, is a fundamental right 
and part of the democratic process. It is vital to ensure 
the full application of EU law in all Member States and 
individuals, 
the 
including in environmental matters. Access to justice is 
essential  to  enable  judicial  review  of  the  decisions  of 
public  authorities  and  to  allow  the  correction  of  any 
wrongdoing committed by these authorities. 

legal  protection  of  the  rights  of 

This section provides a snapshot of the state of play of 
access  to  courts  by  the  public,  particularly  when  it 
comes  to  challenging  plans,  or  the  non-adoption  of 
plans, under EU law, in the areas of water, waste, air 
quality and noise, irrespective of the form of the legal 
act (i.e. regulatory act or administrative decision). 

As  mentioned  in  the  2022  EIR,  physical  and  legal 
persons,  including  NGOs,  may  challenge  decisions 
made  by  the  environmental  authorities  before  the 
Environment and Planning Review Tribunal. In certain 
instances, to appeal against a decision of the Planning 
Authority, the third parties interested (including NGOs) 

(186)  European Commission: Directorate-General for Environment, 
Collection of information and data on the implementation of 
the revised Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive 
(2011/92/EU)  as  amended  by  2014/52/EU),  Publications 
Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2024, Tables 5 and 
6, 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-
/publication/8349a857-2936-11ef-9290-01aa75ed71a1/. 
(187)   European Commission: Directorate-General for Environment, 
Lundberg,  P.,  McNeill,  A.,  McGuinn,  J.,  Cantarelli,  A.  et  al., 
Study  supporting  the  preparation  of  the  report  on  the 
application  and  effectiveness  of  the  SEA  Directive  (Directive 
2001/42/EC) – Final study, Publications Office of the European 
Union, 2025, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2779/1615072 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
are  required  to  have  submitted  written  comments 
regarding the application for development permission 
during  the  term  established  by  law  for  the  public 
consultation process. Regarding decisions taken by the 
ERA,  Article 47  of  the  Environment  and  Planning 
Review Tribunal Act provides for the right of appeal of 
any aggrieved party as well as of any person in relation 
to 
to 
environmental  information  and  the  prevention  and 
remedying  of  environmental  damage.  Certain 
subsidiary  legislation  may  also  provide  for  access  to 
justice  provisions  regarding  specific  matters,  such  as 
the  Freedom  of  Access  to 
Information  on  the 
Environment Regulations (188). 

environmental 

assessments, 

access 

In Malta, there are some difficulties in challenging SEA 
decisions 
the 
environmental  report  or  both)  and  plans  and 
programmes in other environmental fields. 

the  plan/programme  or 

(either 

In  addition,  there  is  no  provision  for  administrative 
redress  if  any  person  wants  to  challenge  an  act  or 
omission  in  the  SEA  process  except  for  filing  a  legal 
challenge  requesting  judicial  review  before  the  First 
Hall of the Civil Court. However, if authorisations (e.g. 
development  consent)  take  the  form  of  legislation, 
there  is  no  possibility  of  administrative  review  or 
judicial review. 

the  Commission  started 

In  2024, 
infringement 
proceedings (189)  against  Malta  for  failure  to  ensure 
access  to  justice  in  environmental  matters  in  several 
policy  areas  such  as  nature,  waste  management  and 
water policy. 

in 

In  2022,  Malta  received  priority  actions  to  (i)  ensure 
that legal standing to challenge a decision of a public 
authority is not restricted to the members of the public 
concerned  who  participated 
the  preceding 
administrative  procedure  in  environmental  cases;  (ii) 
improve access to courts by the public concerned when 
it  comes  to  challenging  administrative  or  regulatory 
decisions covering planning, in particular in relation to 
water, nature and air quality; and (iii) better inform the 
public by making reference to the relevant Commission 
e-justice factsheets about their access to justice rights. 
There has been no progress regarding these actions.  

(188)  Subsidiary 

Legislation 549.39, 

17 May 

2005, 

https://legislation.mt/eli/sl/549.39/eng/pdf#:~:text=(2)%20T
he%20purpose%20of%20these,course%2C%20environmental
information%20is%20progressively. 

(189)  European  Commission,  ‘May  infringements  package:  Key 
decisions’, 
2024, 
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/inf_
24_2422. 

Brussels, 

23 May 

Malta  48 

2025 priority action 

• 

to 

courts 

access 

Improve 
national 
environmental cases by the public concerned and 
eliminate  practical  barriers,  such  as  length  of 
proceedings and excessive costs in some Member 
States. 

in 

Compliance assurance 

Environmental  compliance  assurance  covers  all  work 
undertaken  by  public  authorities  to  ensure  that 
industries, farmers and others fulfil their obligations to 
protect  water,  air  and  nature,  to  manage  waste (190) 
and to remedy any environmental damage. It includes 
measures  such  as  (i)  compliance  promotion,  (ii) 
compliance  monitoring  (i.e.  inspections  and  other 
checks), (iii) enforcement, that is, steps taken to stop 
breaches  and  impose  sanctions,  and  (iv)  ensuring 
damage  prevention  and  remediation  in  line  with  the 
polluter-pays principle. 

Compliance promotion, monitoring and enforcement 

reasons, 

for  different 

Non-compliance  with  environmental  obligations  may 
occur 
including  poor 
understanding  or  lack  of  acceptance  of  the  rules, 
criminality.  Compliance 
opportunism  or  even 
promotion  activities  help  duty-holders  to  comply  by 
providing  information,  guidance  and  other  support. 
This is particularly important in areas where new and 
complex legislation is put in place. 

When inspections and other control activities identify 
problems,  a  range  of  responses  may  be  appropriate, 
including  the  use  of  administrative  and  criminal 
enforcement tools. 

to 

According 
information  provided  by  Maltese 
authorities,  standard  operating  procedures  and  an 
enforcement  handbook  have  been  established  along 
with  risk-based  inspections  to  streamline  compliance 
assurance  work.  There  is  a  need  for  additional  and 
closer  collaboration  with  the  EU  Network  for  the 
Implementation  and  Enforcement  of  Environmental 
Law  to  support  the  strengthening  of  control  and 
enforcement  capabilities.  Although  some  work 
is 
ongoing,  the  Maltese  authorities  are  encouraged  to 

(190)  The  concept 

in  detail 

is  explained 

in  the  European 
Commission’s 2018 communication on EU actions to improve 
environmental  compliance  and  governance  (https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-
the 
content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52018DC0010) 
related  Commission  staff  working  document  (https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52018SC0010). 

and 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
make  publicly  available  more 
compliance assurance work and its results. 

information  on 

Between  15  May  2022  and  31  December  2024,  the 
Commission  received  6  complaints  relating  to  the 
environment in Malta, half of which concerned nature; 
other complaints concerned alleged breaches of EU law 
in  the  areas  of  air,  chemicals,    noise,  and  waste.  In 
terms  of  complaints  per  million  inhabitants,  that  is 
10.64,  well  above  the  EU  average  of  3.2,  and  the 
highest number among all Member States (figures 40 
and 41). 

Figure 40: EU complaints 15 May 2022-31 December 
2024 

Source: DG Environment complaints data. 

Figure  41:  EU  complaints  per  million  inhabitants  15 
May 2022-31 December 2024  

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

Malta  49 

The new EU Environmental Crime Directive 

The EU has recently strengthened its legal framework 
on tackling the most serious breaches of environmental 
obligations,  notably  by  the  adoption  of  the  new 
Environmental  Crime  Directive  (ECD)  (Directive  (EU) 
2024/1203) and new sectoral legislation with stronger 
provisions  on  compliance  monitoring,  enforcement 
and  penalties.  Issues  important  for  the  transposition 
and 
relevant  new 
instruments  are  highlighted  below;  a  detailed 
assessment of these topics will be included in the next 
EIR  once  more  implementation  measures  are  put  in 
place and more systematic information is available. 

implementation  of 

the 

the 

The  new  ECD  replaced  the  2008  ECD  and  introduced 
several new offence categories, such as unlawful ship 
recycling,  unlawful  water  abstraction,  and  serious 
breaches  of  EU  legislation  on  chemicals,  mercury, 
fluorinated GHG and IAS of EU concern. It also covered 
the  establishment  of  qualified  offences,  subject  to 
more  severe  penalties  where  one  of  the  offences 
defined  in  the  directive  leads  to  serious  widespread 
and  substantial  damage  or  destruction  of  the 
environment.  Concrete  provisions  on  the  types  and 
levels  of  penalties  for  natural  and  legal  persons  who 
introduced.  Other 
commit  an  offence  were  also 
improve  the 
provisions  will  help  considerably  to 
effectiveness in combating environmental crime of all 
actors  along  the  enforcement  chain.  These  include 
obligations 
resources  and 
investigative tools, specialised regular training and the 
establishment of cooperation mechanisms within and 
between Member States as well as national strategies 
on combating environmental crime. 

to  ensure  adequate 

and 

approaches. 

Member States are required to transpose the new ECD 
into national law by 21 May 2026 and to take additional 
measures  to  more  effectively  combat  environmental 
crime,  in  particular  through  training,  coordination, 
The 
strategic 
cooperation 
Commission  will  provide  support, 
including  by 
facilitating  the  identification  and  sharing  of  good 
practices. Member States are expected to ensure the 
necessary resources and specialised skills required and 
they  are  invited  to  encourage  their  authorities  to 
support  and  cooperate  with  the  recognised  EU-level 
networks of environmental enforcement practitioners, 
such  as  the  EU  Network  for  the  Implementation  and 

T
M

Y
C

R
H

I

V F
L

L
E

T
A

E
O I
R

G
B

E
S

S
E

K
D

7
2
U
E

T
P

E
E

I

K S
S

T
I

U
L

L
P

E
B

T
L

Z
C

L
N

E
D

R
F

U
H

Source: Eurostat, ‘Population’ tps00001, accessed 22 January 2025, 
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tps00001/default
/table?lang=en, and DG Environment complaints data. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
of 

the 

Environmental 

Law (191), 
Enforcement 
EnviCrimeNet (192), 
European  Network  of 
Prosecutors for the Environment (193) and the EU Forum 
of  Judges  for  the  Environment (194).  The  European 
Union  Agency  for  Law  Enforcement  Cooperation  and 
European  Union  Agency 
Justice 
Cooperation    mechanisms  for  cooperation  on  cross-
border  cases  should  be  used  more  systematically  for 
environmental offences. 

for  Criminal 

Environmental Liability Directive 

The Environmental Liability Directive (ELD)(195) aims to 
ensure  that  environmental  damage  is  remediated  in 
kind at the expense of those who have caused it, in line 
with the polluter-pays principle. It helps to halt the net 
loss in biodiversity, as well as reducing the number of 
contaminated sites and protecting  the  environmental 
quality of groundwater and surface waters. The ELD is 
a  cross-cutting  tool  and  a  key  enabler  for  better 
implementation of EU environmental law. 

The  ELD  addresses  cases  of  significant  environmental 
damage to protected species and natural habitats, and, 
when  caused  by  operators  carrying  out  certain 
potentially hazardous activities, also damages to water 
and to soil. The Commission has the legal obligation to 
periodically  evaluate  the  ELD.  Following  the  legal 
obligation,  the  ELD  has  undergone  the  second 
evaluation (196),  which  will  be  finalised  in  2025,  and 
which  was  supported  by  an  external  study (197), 
containing,  among  other  things,  evidence,  views, 
reports and other relevant information gathered from 
different stakeholder groups, including Member States. 

One  of  the  most  relevant  indicators  in  assessing 
implementation  and  enforcement  of  the  ELD  is  the 
number of environmental damage cases handled under 
the ELD, especially when this number is compared with 
the  previous  reporting  period.  Fewer  ELD  cases  were 
reported  in  the  second  reporting  period  (2013–2022) 
than  in  the  first  one  (2007–2013).  However,  the 
downward tendency in the number of ELD occurrences 
and their overall low number do not necessarily mean 

(191)  https://www.impel.eu/en. 
(192) 

LIFE+SATEC 
(https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/life/publicWebsite/project/LI
FE20-PRE-ES-000001/fight-against-environmental-crime-at-a-
strategic-level-through-the-strengthening-of-envicrimenet-
network-of-experts-in-environmental-criminal-
investigations). 

project 

(193)  https://www.environmentalprosecutors.eu. 
(194)  https://www.eufje.org/index.php?lang=en. 
(195)   Directive 2004/35/EC on environmental liability with regard to 
the  prevention  and  remedying  of  environmental  damage 
(https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02004L0035-20190626). 

Malta  50 

compared  with 

that the ELD has achieved its objectives, as it needs to 
be 
the  overall  number  of 
environmental damage cases, some of which may have 
been handled under the other liability instruments. 

The ELD has not always been effective in ensuring that 
the  polluter  pays,  because  the  liable  operators  often 
lack  financial  capacity  to  carry  out  remediation 
measures.  While  the  ELD  does  not  provide  for  a 
mandatory  financial  security  system,  it  explicitly  calls 
for Member  States to encourage the development  of 
financial  security  instruments  and  markets,  with  the 
aim of enabling operators to use financial guarantees 
to cover their responsibilities under this directive. 

In  its  report  covering  1 May  2013  to  31 December 
2021, Malta stated that there were no environmental 
damage occurrences under the ELD in this period. The 
report further stated that other legislation was applied 
for  the  remediation  of  environmental  damage, 
legislation. 
including  environmental  permit-issuing 
According  to  Malta,  such  legislation  provides  for 
remediation  and/or  compensatory  work  to  address 
potential damage that may result from the activities in 
question.  The  report  described  three  examples  of 
environmental  damage  in  response  to  which  the  ERA 
applied  other  administrative  tools.  In  the  previous 
reporting 
damage 
period, 
occurrences were reported either. 

environmental 

no 

The  2022  EIR  recommended  that  Malta  (i)  consider 
publishing  plans  and  reports  on  environmental 
inspections or providing more detailed information on 
the results of inspections and their follow-up (198); and 
(ii) improve the information provided to the public on 
opportunities  to  file  complaints  about  environmental 
concerns  or  infringements,  and  publish  data  on  the 
follow-up  of  such  complaints.  However,  actions 
concerning  compliance  promotion,  monitoring  and 
criminal  and  administrative  enforcement  are  not 
assessed here due to a lack of systematic information. 

It 
is,  however,  noteworthy  that  Malta  has  not 
introduced  mandatory  financial  security  for  ELD 
instruments 
liabilities,  and  the  demand  for  such 

(196)  Commission  staff  working  document  -  Evaluation  of  the 

Environmental Liability Directive, forthcoming 2025. 

(197)  European  Commission:  Directorate-General  for  Environment 
and  Fogleman,  V.,  Study  in  support  of  the  evaluation  of  the 
Environmental  Liability  Directive  and  its  implementation – 
Final  report,  Publications  Office  of  the  European  Union, 
Luxembourg,  2024,  https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-
detail/-/publication/006d90e5-980a-11ef-a130-
01aa75ed71a1/language-en. 

(198)  ERA,  Annual  Report  2023,  2024,  https://era.org.mt/wp-
content/uploads/2024/06/Annual_Report_and_Financial_Sta
tements_2023.pdf. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
remains  low.  Environmental  extensions  to  general 
liability  policies  are  available,  but  they  provide  cover 
only  for  third-party  claims  arising  from  a  sudden  and 
accidental  pollution  incident.  They  do  not  provide 
cover  for  remediating  pollution  or  other  types  of 
environmental  damage,  including  liabilities  under  the 
ELD or other environmental legislation. 

2025 priority action 

• 

the 

Encourage  the  use  of  training  programmes 
provided by the Commission (or developed at the 
national level) covering the ELD and its interaction 
other 
with 
liability-related 
instruments, 
to  ensure  more  efficient  ELD 
implementation,  improve  the  expertise  of  the 
competent authorities and raise awareness among 
all stakeholder groups. 

national 

EU-supported environmental capacity 
building 

The  Commission’s  2023  Compact (199)  initiative  to 
identifies  the 
enhance  the  administrative  space 
capacity to lead the green transition as one of three key 
pillars,  along  with  the  public  administration  skills 
agenda  and  the  capacity  for  Europe’s  Digital  Decade. 
Compact also recognises the role of the EIR  reporting 
tool in improving environmental governance. The two 
main 
the 
environment  provided  by  the  European  Commission 
are  the  TSI (200)  and  the  TAIEX-EIR  PEER  2  PEER 
tool (201).  The  technical  assistance  available  through 
the cohesion policy  is subject  to shared management 
and is not dealt with in this subsection. 

capacity-building 

opportunities 

for 

The Commission’s Technical Support Instrument  

The  Technical  Support 
Instrument  (TSI)  provides 
Member States with tailor-made technical expertise on 
implementation  of  reforms.  The 
the  design  and 
support  is  demand  driven  and  does  not  require 
national co-financing. 

(199)  See  the  European  Commission  web  page  on  Compact 

(https://reform-support.ec.europa.eu/public-administration-
and-governance-coordination/enhancing-european-
administrative-space-compact_en). 

(200)  See  the  European  Commission  web  page  on  the  TSI 
(https://commission.europa.eu/funding-tenders/find-
funding/eu-funding-programmes/technical-support-
instrument/technical-support-instrument-tsi_en). 

(201)  See  the  European  Commission  web  page  on  the  TAIEX-EIR 
PEER  2  PEER  tool  (https://environment.ec.europa.eu/law-
and-governance/environmental-implementation-
review/peer-2-peer_en).  TAIEX:  Technical  Assistance  and 
Information Exchange. 

Malta  51 

The TSI had annual calls in 2021, 2022, 2023,2024 and 
2025  with  projects 
implemented  the  respective 
following year (the year in brackets indicated below is 
the  call  year).  The  following  environment-related 
projects have been selected for Malta:  

• 

finance – 

supervisory 

Sustainable 
capacity 
enhancement, Financial Services Authority  (2022); 
•  Cooperation  on  Green  Transformation  of  Public 
Works  Department  -  for  Quality  on  SDGs  and 
Climate 
Transport, 
Action,  Ministry 
Infrastructure and Capital Projects (2022); 

of 

•  Climate adaptation, Ministry for Public Works and 
Planning;  Ministry  for  Environment,  Energy  and 
Enterprise (2023); 

•  Assistance  to  draw  a  Sustainable  Aquaculture 
Strategy  for  Malta,  Department  of  Fisheries  and 
Acquaculture (2023); 

•  Reform  and  capacity  building  in  permissions  and 
compliance  at  the  Environment  and  Resources 
Authority (ERA) II (2024); 

•  Working towards cleaner air and a healthier noise 
climate; Ministry for the Environment, Energy and 
the  Grand  Harbour  and 
Regeneration  of 
Environment  and  Resources  Authority 
(ERA) 
(2025). 

•  Capacity  Building  on  Climate  Action  and 

Sustainable Development (2025). 

The Commission’s TAIEX-EIR PEER 2 PEER tool 

In 2017, the Commission launched the TAIEX-EIR PEER 
2  PEER  tool (202).  It  aims  to  facilitate  peer-to-peer 
learning  among  Member  States’  environmental 
authorities  through  workshops 
(single  or  multi-
country),  expert  missions  (where  a  delegation  of 
experts travels to the requesting institution) and study 
visits  (where  a  delegation  from  the  requesting 
institution  travels  to  a  host  country).  Flagship  multi-
country  workshops  are  those  requested  by  the 
Commission 
and  upcoming 
environmental  legislation  and  policy  in  all  Member 
States (203). 

to  present  new 

(202)  https://ec.europa.eu/environment/eir/p2p/index_en.htm. 
(203) 

flagship multi-country workshops in the reporting period are: 
Recast Drinking  Water Directive (3 April 2025); Environmental 
compliance  and  governance  (18  March  2025);  Planning  of 
Renewable  Energy  Projects  (20  February  2025);  Air  Quality: 
Implementation  of  the  revised  Air  Quality  Directive  (16 
January  2025); 
Industrial  safety:  awareness  raising  of 
emerging risks linked with climate change and decarbonation 
(12 December 2024);  Air quality: implementation of the NEC 
Directive  to  further  mainstream  air  and  broader  pollution 
reduction in agricultural policy (25 September 2024); Industrial 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
Workshops involving Malta are as follows: 

Malta  52 

• 

• 

• 

for 

air 
protection 
the  EU  Czech 

Future 
challenges 
(24 November  2022)  with 
Presidency; 
Reducing  air  pollution 
residential energy (11–13 June 2024); 
New  aspects  in  the  cross-border  cooperation 
against  environmental  crime  (19–20 November 
2024) (204). 

from  transport  and 

Malta  hosted  an  expert  mission  on  enhancing  its 
municipal  solid  waste  management  (31 October–
2 November 2022). Furthermore, Malta participated in 
a study visit (20–22 June 2022) and an expert mission 
(18–20 October  2022)  to  enhance  its  implementation 
of the SEA Directive. 

In  the  2022  EIR,  Malta  received  a  priority  action  to 
continue  building  administrative  capacity  to  support 
the green transition in the fields of circular economy, 
governance and public administration, and finance and 
access to finance. Malta has made no progress in this 
respect,  and  for  that  reason  the  priority  action  is 
reiterated below. 

2025 priority action 

• 

overall 

national 

Improve 
environmental 
governance,  in  particular  administrative  capacity 
to support the green transition and coordination at 
the regional and local levels. 

emissions  transposition  and  implementation  of  the  revised 
Directive  (12  September  2024);  Noise  progress  towards 
meeting Member States’ noise limit values and EU reduction 
targets  (5  June  2024);  Best  practice  use  of  environmental 
footprint  methods  on  the  EU  market  (30  May  2024); 
Sustainable  finance  (9  November  2023);  Textile  waste 
separate collection, treatment and markets (3 October 2023); 
EU  environmental  funding  and  support  (13  June  2023); 
Advisory service for  businesses to go circular (24 April 2023); 
Digital product passport implementation (6 December 2022); 

Public  involvement  in  planning  and  approval  of  renewable 
(17  November  2022);  Environmental 
energy  projects 
compliance  and  governance  (14  November  2022);  Biowaste 
management  (19-20  September  2022);  Renewable  energy 
projects: permitting granting processes  (13 June 2022). N.B. 
the first flagship workshop on Zero Pollution for Air, Water and 
Soil, took place 9 February 2022. 

https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/TMSWebRestrict/resourc

es/js/app/#/library/detail/90076?hasBackBtn=false. 

(204)

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Malta  53 

Annex 

2025 priority actions 
Circular economy and waste management 
Transitioning to a circular economy 

Speed up the transition to a circular economy by implementing an updated national strategy and 
the EU framework and recommendations, in particular to complement it with upstream circularity 
measures. 

Waste management 

instruments, 

Improve  separate  collection  at  source  e.g.  through  economic 
infrastructure for separate collection, sorting and recycling, and increasing public awareness. 
Improve  municipal  waste  preparation  for  reuse  and  recycling.Increase  the  recycling  rates  of 
packaging waste. 
Increase the collection and recycling rate of waste electronic and electric equipment (WEEE). 
Invest in waste prevention measures to reduce the total amount of waste generated. 
Implement  and expand the pay-as-you-throw system for businesses and households. Ensure the 
achievement of the 2025 waste targets, following the recommendations made by the Commission 
in the Early Warning Reports where applicable. 

investing 

in 

Biodiversity and natural capital 
Nature protection and restoration – Natura 2000 

Complete the Natura 2000 site designation process. 
Ensure  the  effective 
implementation  of  Natura  2000  management  plans  and  sufficient 
administrative capacity and financing both for Natura 2000 and the implementation of the Nature 
Restoration Regulation. Ensure implementation of Prioritised Actions Framework 2021-2027 (PAFs). 

• 

• 

• 

• 
• 
• 

• 
• 

Recovery of species  

Strengthen the implementation of national anti-poaching measures. 

• 
•  Reinforce action for habitats and species in unfavourable conservation status, for example through 
restoration  measures,  increased  connectivity,  better  policy  coordination  and  integration,  and 
increased funding. 

• 

Recovery of ecosystems 
Implement eco-schemes and agri-environmental measures and practices to address the 
environmental needs of Malta. 
Implement and scale up the uptake of organic farming practices. 

• 
•  Reduce the excessive area of sealed and artificialised soil and remediate degraded areas of soil. If 
appropriate,  consider  formally  committing  to  targets  for  land-degradation  neutrality  under  the 
relevant United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification agreement. 

•  Designate the competent authority responsible for fulfilling the obligations arising from the EUDR 
and  inform  the  Commission  of  the  names,  addresses,  and  contact  details  of  said  competent 
authority. 
Improve conservation status of forests by promoting sustainable forest managment and ensuring 
compliance with the Habitats Directive before granting/renewing permits for forest logging. 

• 

•  Report its updates on the state of its marine waters, its targets and its determinations of GES which 
are expected to include any threshold values for the descriptors in the MSFD that may have been 
established in cooperation with other Member States at the EU or regional level. 

Prevention and management of invasive alien species  

• 

Step up implementation of the IAS Regulation, including with regard to enforcement and capacity 
of inspection authorities. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
Malta  54 

•  Support the development of the national business and biodiversity network. 

Ecosystem assessment and accounting  

Zero pollution 
Clean air 

•  As part of the NAPCP, take action to reduce emissions of air pollutants. 
• 

Ensure full compliance with the current AAQD standards, also in light of future stricter 
requirements under the revised AAQD. 

•  Accelerate the ratification of relevant international conventions and protocols. 

Industrial emissions 

• 

Ensure compliance with reporting obligations under the IED for 2021–2023 and under the European 
Pollutant Release and Transfer Register for 2020–2022. 
•  Reduce industrial releases to water and their intensity. 
• 

industry  and  environmental  NGOs  to  ensure  proper  contribution  to  and 
Engage  with 
implementation of BAT conclusions and ensure timely updates to permits following the publication 
of BAT conclusions. 
Ensure effective public participation and access to justice in relation to the IED. 

• 

• 

• 

Major industrial accidents prevention – Seveso 

Sign and ratify the Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents. 

Complete and implement action plans on noise management. 

Water quality and management 

Noise 

Nitrates Directive  

• 

Tackle nutrients pollution, especially nitrates from agriculture, through the implementation of the 
Nitrates Directive.  

Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive  

• 

Take the necessary measures to ensure full implementation of the current Urban Wastewater 
taking into account the new requirements of the recast directive. 

Chemicals 
•  Upgrade the administrative capacities in implementation and enforcement to move towards a 

• 

• 

• 

policy of zero tolerance of non-compliance. 
Increase involvement in the activities of the Forum for Exchange of Information on Enforcement of 
the European Chemicals Agency, including in the coordinated enforcement projects, called REF 
projects. 
Increase customs checks and checks of products sold online with regard to compliance with 
chemicals legislation. 

Climate action 

Implement  all  polices  and  measures  that  are  needed  to  achieve  targets  laid  down  in  the  Effort 
Sharing Regulation (ESR) and the Land Use and Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation. 
More detailed priority actions are set out in the assessment of the final National Energy and Climate 
Plan (NECP). 

Financing 
•  Use more national funding (for instance by increasing taxes in favour of the environment and 
reducing environmentally harmful subsidies), EU funding and private funding to help close the 
investment gap. 

Environmental governance 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Malta  55 

Information, public participation and access to justice  

• 

Improve access to courts in national environmental cases by the public concerned and eliminate 
practical barriers, such as length of proceedings and excessive costs in some Member States. 

Compliance assurance  

• 

Encourage  the  use  of  training  programmes  provided  by  the  Commission  (or  developed  at  the 
national  level)  and  covering  the  ELD  and  its  interactions  with  the  other  national  liability-related 
instruments, to ensure more efficient ELD implementation, improve the expertise of the competent 
authorities and raise awareness among all stakeholder groups. 

EU-supported environmental capacity building 

• 

Improve overall national environmental governance, in particular administrative capacity to support 
the green transition and coordination at the regional and local levels. 

2025 Environmental Implementation Review – Malta