Procedural impasse resolved

A procedural impasse that threatened a derailment of the timing of Malta's adoption of the euro in January 2008 was resolved yesterday following an extraordinary meeting between the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament and Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joachim Almunia.

Mr Almunia gave a detailed presentation to set the record straight.

Mr Almunia told MEPs it was not the first time that the excessive deficit procedure was abrogated after the Commission's positive recommendations, as happened in the case of Malta. He said this also happened in the case of another seven member states when admitted to the eurozone back in 1999. The same also happened in the case of Slovenia last year.

Referring to comments made by the Parliament's rapporteur Werner Langen, that Malta's positive report was issued despite missing data, Mr Almunia insisted that was not the case.

"The Commission is satisfied that all procedures, assessments, including quality checks, have been carried out by our services, including Eurostat, and we are very satisfied with the quality of statistics presented by Malta," he said.

During a discussion on the approval of the Commission's convergence report on Malta last Tuesday, the parliamentary committee decided to postpone a vote on the report until the Commission gave a guarantee that the European Parliament will be consulted adequately in the case of further enlargements of the eurozone.

Mr Almunia said he will try to ensure that Parliament is given more time next time round.

Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil welcomed Mr Almunia's clear and unequivocal presentation confirming that Malta and Cyprus fulfil the conditions of accession to the eurozone as of January 1, 2008.

"This is a good time for all those who have any questions to make and to get clear answers. Malta has worked very hard to achieve these targets and it is keen to ensure it is clear to everyone that it has respected all the rules and has not sought or indeed been given any preferential treatment," he said.

On timing, Dr Busuttil said he fully appreciates that the European Parliament must play its institutional role in full and that sufficient time should be given to do so.

"In this regard, I welcome the commissioner's willingness to engage with the European Parliament at an earlier stage on the next occasion," Dr Busuttil said.

The discussion on Malta's report will now continue on the substance next Monday and a vote is expected to be taken at the next plenary session in the third week of June, days before the EU summit.

A final decision on the euro should be taken by EU Finance Ministers in Brussels on July 10.