The European Commission yesterday confirmed that the EU 'had no right whatsoever to impose the introduction of abortion on member states'.
"There is absolutely no consequence of any decision taken by the European Parliament or the EU on your country where it concerns issues like abortion," an EU spokesman for social issues told The Times.
On Wednesday, the bishops said they were seriously concerned over a report approved earlier this month by a committee of the European Parliament which recommended that abortion should be made legal in all EU present and future member states.
The report, "Sexual and reproductive health and rights", drawn up by the committee for the rights and equal opportunities of women of the European Parliament, was tabled on June 4.
The European Parliament is expected to take a vote on its recommendations on July 4.
The EU spokesman said the report was only a recommendation for the time being, and even if the European Parliament voted in its favour, there was nothing which allows the EU to impose it on member states.
The comments echo what government said on Tuesday that the EU had no right, or competence, to impose abortion on its members.
The government said it would like to put the bishops' minds at rest that it had always maintained a strong position against the legalisation of abortion both in Malta and in international fora.
The Church's stand against abortion was clear - it is "a killing and went against God's laws".
The bishops said that the Catholic Church defended human life from its conception and condemned abortion without any reservations.
Two women MPs also condemned abortion, yet had slightly differing views on the statement issued by the bishops this week.
Nationalist MP Dolores Cristina said that while she understood the bishops' concern, she could not understand the sudden alarm.
"This is not the first time that a similar resolution has been put forward. Such resolutions are not binding, so while I appreciate their concern, I cannot understand the alarm. It is not the first time we have faced this issue," she said.
Ms Cristina also said that having an abortion to get rid of the immediate problem was not a long-term solution.
Meanwhile, Labour MP Marie-Louise Coleiro said the bishops had every right to be concerned and she questioned whether Malta would have a say if such a recommendation on abortion was taken up and a decision taken.
Ms Coleiro also said that her views were in line with those of the Malta Labour Party which was committed against the legalisation of abortion.
The whole debate on abortion arose from the report, as approved by the parliamentary committee, which recommends that the governments of member states and candidate countries strive to implement a health and social policy which will lead to a lower incidence of abortion, in particular through the provision of family planning counselling and services; the offering of material and financial support for pregnant women in difficulties; and to regard unsafe abortion as an issue of major public health concern.
It also recommends that the governments of the member states and the accession countries ensure the provision of unbiased, scientific and clearly understandable information and counselling on sexual and reproductive health, including the prevention of unwanted pregnancies and the risks involved in unsafe abortions carried out under unsuitable conditions;
It recommends that, in order to safeguard women's reproductive health and rights, abortion should be made legal, safe and accessible to all;
Calls upon the governments of the member states and the accession countries to refrain in any case from prosecuting women who have undergone illegal abortions;
The report also urges the governments of the member states and the accession countries to strive to provide contraceptives and sexual and reproductive health services free of charge, or at low cost, for underserved groups.
It also requests the governments of the member states and the accession countries to promote emergency contraception as standard practice within sexual and reproductive health care;
It does, however, also underline that abortion should not be promoted as a family planning method;
The report concluded:
"Although reproductive health policies remain merely within the competence of the member states, the EU could add value by launching a process of mutual learning, based on comparisons of reproductive health data and on sharing positive experiences and best practices in member states and accession countries' sexual and reproductive health programmes and policies.
Official statistics show that there are great disparities between the member states and accession countries.
The average EU rate of modern methods of contraceptive use is around 65 per cent, with the Netherlands having the highest rate.
Member countries have different laws for abortion. The most restrictive policy is that found in Ireland, where abortion is only allowed to save a woman's life. In Portugal and Spain, legal abortion is only possible in case of foetal impairment or rape.
The average rate of contraceptive use in the candidate countries is much lower than in the EU, with an average of around 31 per cent, with the lowest rates in Romania and Lithuania and the highest rates in the Czech Republic.
Due to limited availability and the high cost of appropriate contraceptives as well as the lack of counselling services in central and Eastern Europe, abortion still remains the principal means of fertility regulation.
The lowest EU reported legal abortion rates are to found in countries like Belgium with around seven in every 1,000 women, while the highest abortion rates are to be found in Sweden with 18 per 1,000 women.
On the other hand, in the accession countries, abortion rates are much higher than in the EU.
The lowest official abortion rates are to be found in the Czech Republic (17/1,000 women), and the highest rate in Romania (52/1,000 women).
Meanwhile, figures released by the National Statistics Office in the UK show that between 1990 and 2000, 526 Maltese women had an abortion in the UK.
This comes to 52 abortions a year or one a week. These figures do not take into consideration the number of abortions that Maltese women have in other countries such as Italy.
The majority of the Maltese women who had an abortion were aged between 20 and 25, with six cases involving girls aged 15 or under.