Four pending EU court cases against Malta

Malta faces four cases before the European Court of Justice after failing to abide by EU rules.

The European Commission recently initiated proceedings after various warnings were issued to Malta, a spokesman for the ECJ told The Sunday Times.

The most serious of the four cases concerns the Gozo Channel monopoly and the award of an exclusive contract for ferry services between Malta and Gozo without putting out a call for tenders.

According to the Commission, the Gozo Channel monopoly is in breach of EU laws, and despite urging the government to issue a call for tenders no action was taken.

Although the government had last year promised the Commission that a call for tenders would be issued, it seems the process has stalled once again and the Commission therefore decided to resort to the ECJ.

Last January, the government had said it intended to issue a public call for tenders "in the coming weeks".

The issue dates back to 2006 when, following a thorough investigation, the Commission found Malta had not justified the need to conclude an exclusive public service contract with Gozo Channel to provide maritime services to Gozo.

Moreover, according to the Commission, the contract was signed without a prior tender procedure offering all interested operators equal access to the market.

The disputed direct contract between the government and Gozo Channel was signed in April 21, 2004, a few days before Malta's accession to the EU, by the ministry responsible for Gozo Channel at the time, Austin Gatt.

The ministry had also drawn up a public service obligation contract with Gozo Channel, through which the government would finance subsidised tickets to the tune of €3.4 million per year. The Commission is maintaining that all this is illegal and a new tender should be issued for the coming years.

According to the ECJ spokesman, Malta is also facing court procedures over the incorrect transposition of an annex of the Unfair Terms in the Consumer Contracts Directive.

It is also facing a violation of directive 2000/60 on surveillance programmes and reports on surface waters, and on the failure to comply with regulation 2037/ 2000 on substances that deplete the ozone layer by not decommissioning the use of halons in fire extinguishers on ships.

All of these cases are in the written phase of procedure, so no dates for any hearing, opinion or judgment have yet been set.

Court action by the Commission is the last step of the three-pronged legal procedure which normally takes years to conclude.

The process includes warning letters of formal notice and reasoned opinions, giving ample time to the member states involved to make the necessary changes and come in line with EU rules before the issue is taken to court.

Malta has lost both cases it has faced in front of the ECJ since EU membership. One concerned the controversial issue of spring hunting while the other was in connection with emissions from power stations.