Maltese MPs conspicuous by their absence at EU meeting

Malta was the only EU member state not represented at a two-day parliamentary meeting held in Brussels on the progress and shortcomings in the area of freedom, security and justice, with much of the debate focusing on illegal immigration.

The meeting, which started on Monday evening and ended yesterday, was the initiative of the European Parliament and the Parliament of Finland.

The Maltese Parliament was invited to send a delegation of MPs to present Malta's views but none turned up. The other EU member states all sent delegations, as did the national parliaments of candidate and accession states Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Turkey and Macedonia.

The meeting's agenda included the situation with regard to illegal migration on the EU's southern borders, the way forward in the fight against immigration and the future of integrated management of borders for a safer, enlarged Union.

Representatives of the European Parliament and national parliaments were addressed by some of the most prominent players in the field including Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini, the European Parliament President Josep Borell, Ilkka Laitinen, director of the EU's border agency Frontex, and the President of the government of the Canary Islands, Adam Martin Menis.

The issue of illegal migration has been high on Malta's domestic and international agendas, with the island clamouring for EU support to help it cope with the flood of immigrants from Africa. Questions are therefore bound to be asked about Malta's absence from the meeting.

A spokesman for the European Parliament told The Times that although there had been several contacts with the Maltese House of Representatives to make sure that the Maltese Parliament was represented, "none of the Maltese MPs could finally make it to attend this meeting due to other assignments".

A Maltese Parliament spokesman confirmed this, saying that unfortunately MPs could not attend the conference due to other commitments.

When asked why there were no MPs present from the government side, Nationalist whip Mario Galea said he was on an election observation mission in Yemen between September 14 and 26. The Maltese Parliament had sent an e-mail on September 22 listing all the trips until the end of the year. However, they should have known he had no access to e-mail in Yemen, he said.

Moreover, Mr Galea said, the invitation did not indicate that the seminar was to focus on illegal migration. It said it was on progress and shortcomings in the area of freedom, security and justice.

Opposition whip Joe Mizzi said when contacted that he was only told about the parliamentary meeting about three days before it was due to start and he was unable to send a representative at such a short notice.