MEPs on collision course with Commission over Dar l-Ewropa

THE FIVE Maltese MEPs do not agree with the decision of the European Commission and the European Parliament to proceed with the acquisition of a property in St Paul Street in Valletta to house the offices of the representation offices of the new institutions in Malta. Instead MEPs want the issue to be put on hold until a better location is found.

On Friday The Times revealed an internal report by Julian Priestly, secretary general of the European Parliament, recommending the purchase of a property in St Paul Street for €3 million (Lm1.32 million).

EP spokesman Jose Liberato yesterday told The Sunday Times that the deal has been recommended by Parliament and that the property concerned is presently owned by Time International Company Ltd.

For the purchase to go ahead, it needs the approval of the budget committee of the European Parliament. However Maltese MEPs want to block this decision.

The head of the Nationalist delegation at the EP, Simon Busuttil, yesterday said that the deal should be put on hold. He said that in choosing a property as Europe House the main concerns should be its visibility and accessibility to the Maltese public.

"I do not support the choice of the property in question because, in my view, it fails the test of visibility and accessibility. As former head of an EU information centre, I know how the location can make all the difference. I vividly recall my struggle to relocate MIC from its original premises in St Paul Street to a more central location in Republic Street. So I can hardly support a move that takes us back out of the centre. This would defeat the purpose of having a Europe House in the first place."

Dr Busuttil added that the decision about Dar l-Ewropa is being rushed only because it appears that money is available in this year's budget.

"This should not be an overriding consideration at the expense of the suitability of the premises. The European Parliament's office is temporarily housed in Republic Street in the same building as MIC that belongs to the Government of Malta. And no one has given the EP office a notice of eviction. So the same premises can easily continue to be used on a temporary basis until a suitable alternative is found."

This opinion is shared by the other Nationalist MEP, David Casa, who told The Sunday Times that the deal should be put on hold as the building is not easily accessible to the public.

"As Maltese MEPs we were rarely consulted on this issue. The public call was too short and at an inadequate time as it was published only once, in only one newspaper and in the middle of August. The house proposed is an excellent property for residential purposes but I do not think it serves the purpose of the European Parliament and the European Commission. I am informed that none of the other MEPs are in favour of purchasing this property in a predominantly residential part of St Paul Street."

Mr Casa said that to solve the issue, the Maltese MEPs suggested that another call be issued, but this was rejected.

"I feel that when using European citizens' money to buy a property costing more than €3 million more caution and consideration has to be exercised."

Sources close to the Labour delegation told The Sunday Times that they are of the same opinion as their Nationalist counterparts. However they are expected to finalise their formal position this week following Dr John Attard Montalto's return from a holiday.

Labour MEPs Joseph Muscat and Louis Grech said that a decision is expected by tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the position being taken by the Maltese MEPs is being strongly opposed by the Commission's representation office in Malta, which wants to conclude this deal as soon as possible.

The head of the representation, Dr Joanna Drake, said that the Commission does not share the MEPs' objection to the location of the property. She said that St Paul Street is only round the corner from Republic Street and the open-air market (Il-Monti) on Merchants Street, frequented by hundreds of shoppers every day.

"Both the European Commission and the European Parliament are favourably disposed towards the purchase of the property in question. It offers the optimum mix in terms of value for money, available budget, visibility, accessibility, functionality, location as well as availability in the shortest possible timeframe. All other properties reviewed and assessed by the project team (made up of representatives of both institutions) over almost two years were not deemed to offer a similar package of assets." 

Reacting to last Friday's story, Dr Drake said that there is no controversy and this issue shouldn't be confused with Dar Malta.