Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil yesterday described the recent announcement of the removal of the departure tax as a victory for Maltese citizens' rights in the EU.
Addressing the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament, which was discussing five separate petitions against this tax, Dr Busutil welcomed the government's decision to completely abolish the tax.
"At a time of disillusionment with Europe, particularly following the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland, here is one concrete example that the EU works for citizens. This is a victory for citizens' rights," Dr Busuttil told the committee.
Dr Busuttil praised the five complainants for standing up for their EU rights and also thanked the Commission for its involvement in this case.
The petitions in front of the EP committee were received from two Maltese citizens, Anna Ignacak Mifsud and Matthew Buttigieg, the Federated Association of Travel and Tourism Agents (Fatta), Robert Coenen, a Dutch citizen and Oisin Jones-Dillon from Ireland. They all asked the Petitions Committee to intervene and exert pressure on the Maltese authorities to remove this tax.
Asked for his reaction, a representative of the European Commission told the committee that earlier this month the Commission had decided to take this case to the European Court of Justice. However, it subsequently received a letter from Maltese Foreign Minister Tonio Borg, addressed to Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, which announced that the Maltese authorities intended to remove the tax completely with effect from November 1 and to publish the relevant legal notice by the end of this month. He said that a copy of the regulations has already been sent to the Commission.
The Commission representative said that the Commission will now wait to see whether the removal will indeed take place as announced.
Intervening during the debate, Dr Busuttil pointed out that two of the five complainants referred not just to the departure tax charged on flights but also to the departure tax levied on passengers who use maritime transport, such as the catamaran to Sicily. He asked the Commission to declare whether it felt that this tax too was incompatible with EU law in the same way as the departure tax charged on flights.
The committee agreed to leave the petitions open pending a reply from the Commission on this point.