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Matthew Vella
Malta has practically lost all hope of being awarded the sixth European Parliament seat before the next EP elections in 2009, after diplomatic efforts were thwarted by the refusal of France, Belgium, Austria and Spain to support the proposal, MaltaToday is informed.
The decision, which required unanimous approval from all EU Member States, was taken earlier this week on Wednesday during the COREPER meeting, which groups all Member States’ permanent representatives. Richard Cachia Caruana was not present for the decisive meeting as the Maltese permanent representative was in Malta throughout the visit by incoming European Commission president Jose Durao Barroso.
Asked for his comment, Cachia Caruana referred MaltaToday to the Department of Information.
Malta, which was accorded a sixth European Parliament seat following negotiations held during the talks on the EU Constitution, was recently involved in a series of lobbying efforts with EU member States to secure the additional seat before the next EP elections in 2009. The government however did not find unanimous support from all the 25 Member States.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi alluded to the discussions yesterday during his monthly press briefing when he said that unanimous approval had not yet been reached between the EU states, a possible indication that the door may be left open to try and negotiate for a seat with observer status.
Foreign Minister Michael Frendo has however confirmed that the COREPER decision effectively refused the proposal, which demanded that the Protocol text, which lays down five EP seats for Malta, be amended to reflect the Constitution text, which lays down six seats in the EP as a minimum.
“At COREPER the proposal was refused. We did our very utmost to get the sixth seat. We spoke to the Presidency and we enquired about any difficulties with other Member States, and we presented our case clearly. We wanted to get the Protocol in line with the Constitution.”
Frendo said the sixth seat is to be in force by the time the European Constitution is signed, although that was also a matter of time before effective agreement is reached between the divided fray of Member States, some of which are considering holding a referendum to decide whether to sign the Constitution or not. “At that rate, we would have expected the sixth seat by 2006.”
Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Harry Vassallo, who yesterday was celebrating the Green Party’s 15 anniversary at its annual AGM, told MaltaToday that opposition to the Malta government proposal came from a number of countries, although he refused to mention which. AD had been in contact with the Maltese Government and was kept abreast with the status of discussions and lobbying because its candidate to the European Parliament, Arnold Cassola, ranked sixth in line for an EP seat with 23,000 first count votes.
“The chances of acquiring the sixth seat are now very remote. The decisive meeting was held during the Barroso visit. Government made all its efforts and did not succeed. What would be ironic is if Bulgaria is accorded EU membership before the upcoming European Parliament elections in 2009 and it will have all its MEPs in place whilst Malta would still be waiting to have its sixth MEP.”
Asked for his reaction to the news, Arnold Cassola said the party was always kept abreast of the situation. “The information to our knowledge is that this is extremely difficult because of the opposition to it.”
matthew@newsworksltd.com
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