EU presidency awaits election result

The Slovenian presidency of the EU is awaiting the election result in order to finalise arrangements regarding the participation of Malta's Prime Minister at the European summit next week in Brussels.

"We have put on hold preparations in relation to Malta's participation," a Slovenian official in Brussels told The Times yesterday.

"We obviously need to know who will be representing Malta as Prime Minister on Thursday and Friday. If there is no change, it will be much easier for us from a logistical point of view as we have had (Lawrence) Gonzi in many summits now. If there is a change, we will have to start from scratch," the official said.

The official explained that, apart from the usual travel, hotel and transport arrangements, including the provision of security, the summit preparations include the publication of many documents with the names and images of every Prime Minister, seating plans for all the meetings, accreditation procedures for delegations and even other minor details such as the placing of the 27 EU leaders for their traditional family photo. "One other thing is the Prime Minister's dietary requirements," he added. "With Dr Gonzi we have no problems as he is not fussy when it comes to food," he joked. In Malta, preparations from the Prime Minister's Office are almost on hold.

"Although the Department of Information (DOI) has already made the necessary arrangements for the press to cover the summit, we will only start working on the Prime Minister's delegation on Monday, depending on the election outcome," a senior aide at the Prime Minister's Office said.

Apart from the Prime Minister, next week's summit will also be attended by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Finance. The gathering of the 27 EU leaders in Brussels, referred to as the Spring European Council, will be the first to be held under the present six-month Slovenian presidency and will focus on economic and environmental issues.

Just three days after the formation of a new Cabinet, the newly-elected Prime Minister will meet his counterparts to take stock of the progress being made by member states on the EU's Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs, setting various benchmarks related to economic growth, creation of jobs and the environment.