Europe House purchase to go ahead

Despite strong opposition from Maltese MEPs, the purchase of a €3 million property in St Paul's Street, Valletta, to house the representation offices of the European Commission and the European Parliament is to proceed as planned.

The decision came following a heated debate and a vote taken yesterday in the budgets committee of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

A proposal submitted by Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil to postpone the decision for up to four months until more appropriate premises for Europe House (Dar l-Ewropa) are found was defeated by just one vote, with Labour MEP Louis Grech abstaining.

During the debate, Dr Busuttil, supported by fellow MEPs from the European People's Party, strongly opposed the deal, arguing that the premises in question are not suitable as they are located in a primarily residential area and are thus not easily accessible by the public.

Mr Grech, the only other Maltese MEP member on the budgets committee, argued in favour of a postponement but failed to convince his Socialist colleagues on the committee.

At the end of the debate, a counter proposal by Dr Busuttil to postpone the decision was defeated by 11 votes to 10. The only abstention vote was cast by Mr Grech. All EPP members of the committee supported Dr Busuttil's proposal but this was not enough as the other members from the Socialist, Green and Liberal groups voted against.

On the other hand, a proposal by Liberal MEP Jan Mulder, the rapporteur of the EP, to purchase the property was approved with 13 votes in favour, 10 votes against and one abstention. Dr Busuttil and all the EPP members voted against while Mr Grech abstained.

Although not a member of the committee, Nationalist MEP David Casa was also present and voted together with the EPP group.

European Parliament rules permit MEPs who are not members of a committee to attend meetings and vote in the absence of other full members. Of the three Labour MEPs, only Mr Grech was present. Speaking to The Times following the meeting, Dr Busuttil expressed his disappointment at the decision.

"I am disappointed because I wanted this important building to be more central, more visible and more accessible to the Maltese public. But I respect the decision and I hope that good use will be made of it nonetheless.

"As to the vote, it is a pity that the Socialists did not support me and the EPP. My proposal to postpone the decision was defeated by just one vote. Whereas the EPP supported my position, the Socialists voted against with Louis Grech abstaining," Dr Busuttil noted.

Mr Grech confirmed that the Labour MEPs also disagreed with the purchase of the Valletta property but stopped short of saying why he decided to abstain rather than vote against.

"None of the sites met all the criteria needed and we have constantly expressed our major reservations and misgivings on the actual procedure governing the process which, in our opinion, was inadequate and not very transparent and also on the lack of effective consultation with the Maltese MEPs. We also proposed an alternative site that can be rented for the time being, however we were told this is not European Parliament policy," he said.

The property, to be bought from Time International Company Ltd for Lm1.32 million, is situated opposite the back entrance of the Valletta market in St Paul Street.