MEP Simon Busuttil, speaking in the European Parliament, has slammed Roberto Maroni’s attempt to shift Italy’s legal responsibilities for migrants on Malta.

He said that Mr Maroni’s behaviour was “shameful” and a political gimmick intended to play the populist card just a few weeks before the European Parliament elections.

The Italian minister yesterday claimed that 40,000 migrants ended up in Italy because Malta did not intervene in some 600 rescue cases.

But his Maltese counterpart Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici retorted that if there was anyone who expected Malta to take illegal immigrants that were his responsibility, he could forget it.

The war of words followed an incident a few days ago where a cargo vessel which had taken on 140 immigrants in distress was refused entry by both Malta and Italy, each country claiming that it was the other's responsibility to take them. The immigrants were eventually accepted by Italy.

Dr Busuttil was speaking in the European Parliament plenary last night where he presented his report on a Common Immigration Policy.

He said that the Pinar E case showed more than ever that a common European approach on immigration was necessary and that in the absence of a common approach, countries ended up trying to shed their responsibilities and pointing fingers at each other without getting any closer to a true solution.

“It is shameful that a country of 60 million tries to shift its legal responsibilities onto a country of less than half a million,” he said, adding that he hoped that this was just an isolated case where a Lega Nord Minister was trying to play a populist card just a few weeks before the EP election.

“We can see through political gimmicks. But that does not make them acceptable,” Dr Busuttil told the EP.

On the other hand, Dr Busuttil welcomed the constructive spirit in which the Maltese and Italian Prime Ministers intervened to unblock the situation and settle the issue.

“Thanks to their intervention, reason prevailed over gimmicks, commonsense prevailed over intransigence and the rule of law prevailed over the law of the jungle.”

Dr Busuttil said that the EP did not want a fragmented approach to immigration policy but a coherent one because only this would make it truly effective.

During the debate, the European Commission was represented by Maltese Commissioner Joe Borg who intervened to congratulate Dr Busuttil for his important report. He said that the Commission felt in convergence with the EP’s position of the expressed in Dr Busuttil’s report.

On solidarity, Commissioner Joe Borg said that the Commission was committed to try and find solutions to help member states that were facing particular burdens.

He said that the Commission had already proposed the review of the Dublin regulation to help countries facing migratory pressure and the European Asylum Support Office which would offer support to such countries. He added that EU funding was also available for voluntary internal redistributions of migrants.

Both MEP Busuttil and Commissioner Borg addressed plenary in the Maltese language.