European Parliament committee includes Malta's extra seat

Malta's allocation of another seat in the European Parliament (EP) was again confirmed yesterday during the start of a debate on the system to be used for the allocation of seats at Parliament to get in line with the new reform treaty.

Parliament has only a few weeks to present a final report to the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), which is discussing the final text of the new EU reform treaty, outlining the allocation of parliamentary seats to every member state.

The final EP report is being handled by the Constitutional Committee, which yesterday started discussing a nine-page report submitted by joint-rapporteurs French conservative Alain Lamassoure and Romanian socialist Adrian Severin.

The two MEPs said that in finalising their work they will be following three main rules.

The total number of MEPs in the legislative body should be limited to 750, from the present 785, the ceiling for a national delegation would be cut from 99 to 96 seats and the minimum threshold would rise from five to six seats. Thus, the rules, which were also adopted by the European Council last June, will slightly reduce the weight of Germany's 99 MEPs, whereas Malta, with five MEPs, would gain an extra seat.

A few weeks ago, EU presidency sources had told The Times that Malta's sixth seat had also been included in the text of the draft treaty.

Maltese government officials are following the debate in both the IGC and the EP very closely in order to avoid any surprises.

"This is a very sensitive issue for all member states and we need to make sure that what has been pledged to Malta is included in the final text. Many member states are not happy with the allocation of seats granted and are thus exerting pressure on the European Parliament and the IGC to re-open the debate. If this happens it will obviously expose Malta's extra seat, something we do not wish will happen," a government official said.

Over the past years, Malta has fought tooth and nail to make sure the new EU treaty will guarantee an added MEP for the island.

In line with the rules, agreed in Nice in 2000, when Malta was not yet an EU member, the island was surprisingly allocated five seats in the European Parliament, one less than Luxembourg despite having almost the same population as the Grand Duchy. This was seen as discriminatory by the Maltese authorities who mounted a diplomatic campaign to make sure the issue is corrected once the EU gets a new treaty.

Intense lobbying, including personal interventions by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi with his counterparts, particularly with German Chancellor Angela Merkel last June, obtained the desired result with the outgoing German presidency declaring that Malta should increase its parliamentary representatives from five to six.

Malta has now to ensure this achievement is reflected in the final text of the treaty that is expected to be adopted by EU leaders by the end of this year.