MEPs to cover 14 EP delegations

Malta's five members of the European Parliament will be covering between them a total of 15 inter-parliamentary delegations set up between the EU and non-EU parliaments and multilateral assemblies.

Each of them is already a member of one of the EP's 40 delegations but the five MEPs have also been approved by the plenary session in Strasbourg to cover other delegations as substitutes.

Louis Grech, head of the Labour delegation in Brussels, sits on four delegations. Apart from being a member of the delegation for relations with Australia and New Zealand, Mr Grech has also been nominated as a substitute member in the delegation for relations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo and will also be covering the EuroMed Parliamentary Assembly and the newly-set up EuroNest Parliamentary Assembly, comprising the EU's eastern neighbours (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine).

John Attard Montalto, who during the last EP legislature was one of the most active MEPs in terms of external delegations, will now be a member of the delegation responsible for relations with South Asia. He will also be following the work of the delegation to Iraq and the Parliamentary Assembly of the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. In the last legislature, Dr Attard Montalto also formed part of the EP's delegation to Afghanistan and was present during an assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Newly-elected Labour MEP Edward Scicluna will also be covering the ACP assembly as a member and will act as a substitute in the EP's delegation for relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The two Nationalist MEPs, Simon Busuttil and David Casa, will be working closer to home.

Dr Busuttil has been nominated as a member of the delegation for relations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo and will be also attending meetings as a substitute in the EuroMed Parliamentary Assembly and in the delegation for relations with Switzerland, Iceland and Norway and to the European Economic Area (EEA) Joint Parliamentary Committee.

Mr Casa, who will also be covering the EuroMed Assembly as a substitute, has also been nominated a member of the delegation for the ACP Parliamentary Assembly and as a substitute for the EP's delegation for relations with Turkey.

The EP's parliamentary delegations range from 12 to 53 members while those for multilateral assemblies, such as the EuroMed, have between 49 and 78 members.

Although many critics see such delegations as no more than an opportunity for MEPs to travel the globe at taxpayer's expense, the EP maintains the delegations offer the Parliament a vital network of contacts and a forum for dialogue with parliamentarians in partner countries outside the EU.

The first inter-parliamentary delegation was set up with the US in 1972. Since then, the number of delegations has grown, as did importance of the EP's external representation.

All elected MEPs form part of one or more EP delegations.