Malta dismisses claim over shortcomings in issuing visas

A report claiming that Malta is among new member states having problems conforming to entry requirements of the EU's borderless area, known as Schengen, were yesterday dismissed by the government. Quoting a "secret" European Commission report, the Financial Times said yesterday that Malta still "has significant shortcomings in visa issuance". Contacted by The Times, a spokesman for the Maltese government played down the report and said the newspaper "is quoting an outdated report".

The spokesman said Malta is well on course to get the green light from the EU member states next month to join the Schengen area as from the end of this year.

"We have adhered to all the entry requirements and our feedback from the Commission is very positive. We have no problems with the issuing of visas through our overseas representations and we are ready to join Schengen as from the end of this year according to plan". The spokesman said that over the past few months the Commission had made various visits to Maltese representations, including to the Maltese embassies in Moscow, Tripoli and Tunisia. A recent visit was also held in Malta to inspect the island's preparations both at its airport and seaport.

"During these visits it resulted that we only had some minor technical problems which we dealt with expediently."

The final EU decision to allow the new member states, excluding Cyprus, to join its Schengen treaty will be taken at the beginning of November by the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting in Brussels.

If Malta wins approval, land and sea borders with all its EU neighbours will be dismantled by the end of the year, while air border controls will be abolished next March.

Entry into the Schengen area will mean that all those leaving Malta to another Schengen member country, including non-Maltese citizens, will no longer be subjected to passport controls and border checks.

A total of 30 states - including most European Union states and non-EU members Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland - have signed the agreement and 15 have implemented it so far. The Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom only take part in the police cooperation measures and not the common border control and visa provisions.