Malta euro vote caught in EU internal wrangle

A power struggle between the European Parliament and the European Commission yesterday led Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs to postpone a vote on a report recommending that Malta join the eurozone.

While recommending that the committee issue a favourable opinion on Malta's accession, the German rapporteur, MEP Werner Langen, asked his colleagues not to vote on the reports about Malta and Cyprus before the committee is given a written assurance from the Commission that, in future, Parliament is given more time to draw up similar opinions.

"We want Commissioner Joaquin Almunia to explain why he is almost bypassing his obligation to consult Parliament and rushing through the procedure. This has already happened last year in the case of Slovenia and is now happening in the case of Malta and Cyprus," he said.

"The Commission is obliged to give the only elected body of the EU institutions adequate time to prepare its opinions. This is why we will postpone the vote until we are given this assurance in writing by Commissioner Almunia."

Sources close to the European Parliament told The Times that, according to the EU treaty, the European Parliament is only expected to be consulted on the entry of new member states into the euro area. Thus, strictly speaking, its opinion is not binding. However, it was still desirable that this issue be settled so the process could move on as soon as possible.

"If this issue takes long to resolve, we might end up with voting on these reports after the summer recess and that will put a lot of strain on the two acceding countries."

Mr Almunia is expected to meet the committee on Thursday in search of a solution.

Speaking during the debate, Labour MEP Joseph Muscat, who is also the committee's vice-president, said Malta should not bear the brunt of this internal battle.

"I understand we have a problem of procedure with the Commission but it is not fair that Malta and its people suffer any negative consequences because of this. Malta should not be held hostage and we should approve as soon as possible its entry into the eurozone. If we keep postponing the vote, Malta's economy can be put at risk."

Nationalist MEP David Casa supported Mr Muscat and said Malta had made great strides ahead in order to arrive to this juncture.

Apart from the procedural issue, some MEPs, while declaring their support for Malta's euro entry, criticised the Commission on various aspects regarding its report on Malta.

German MEP Alexander Rawdan said the island had not send the Commission important economic data and the Commission still issued a favorable recommendation. The MEP did not say what data he was referring to.

Taking the cue, Lithuanian MEP Margarita Stackeviciute accused the Commission of treating her country in a different way to the two new prospective entrants.

"While the Commission is saying yes to Malta and Cyprus, despite not having complete data, Lithuania last year was told no because its deficit was 0.07 percentage points over the reference value. This is not fair. Is Malta a better EU member than Lithuania?" she asked.

At the end of the debate, the committee's chairman, French MEP Pervenche Beres, played down the internal dispute with the Commission and said she was confident the matter would be settled during Thursday's meeting with Commissioner Almunia.

She said that, in that case, Malta's report would be discussed and voted upon next week.