48As regards Malta’s legislation, it must be noted that, contrary to what the Commission, in essence, claims, the applicable national legislation concerning the conservation of wild birds sets out the criteria for derogation clearly and precisely and requires the authorities responsible for their application to take them into account. As indicated in paragraphs 10 and 16 of the present judgment, Regulation 9 of the Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations transposes, in essence, Article 9 of Directive 2009/147, whereas Regulation 4 of the Framework Regulations requires the Minister to verify, when opening an Autumn finch live-capturing season, that there is no other satisfactory solution, within the meaning of Article 9(1) of Directive 2009/147. That finding cannot be called into question by the fact, raised by the Commission, that the Framework Regulations do not contain any reference to captive breeding and do not specifically require the Minister to assess whether captive breeding constitutes another satisfactory solution before authorising the trapping of finches for a specific season.
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