Another step in the new MEPs' long and winding road to the Chamber

The European Parliament has made its first official step to solve the issue over the 18 new MEPs, including Labour's Joseph Cuschieri, set to join the EU's legislative Chamber during this legislature.

This involved approving amendments to the Lisbon Treaty and agreeing that this should be done without holding another convention, a move that would have further lengthened the process.

The decisions were made during a session of the EP's Constitutional Affairs Committee in Brussels but will need the endorsement of the full plenary with a vote scheduled for May.

If the procedures are approved, it will still mean another long wait for Mr Cuschieri to join the other five Maltese elected MEPs as the process is very complicated and requires more legal steps to be adopted.

"The decision of the committee is just the first hurdle of many yet to come," an EP official said.

He added that if everything went according to plan, an intergovernmental conference amending the Lisbon Treaty would convene in June to approve the proposals. Then, a new protocol would have to be ratified by the individual parliaments of the 27 member states before the new deputies could become fully fledged MEPs, he said.

The process might take another two years to complete.

However, Mr Cuschieri might still be able to get a good taste of his new tasks in Brussels before then because the EP is toying with the idea of inviting the 18 MEPs as observers once the protocol is agreed by member states in June.

"There is no decision on this yet and no date set but we are looking into this possibility," the EP's spokesman said.

"Most probably, the new MEPs will be invited to join their colleagues as observers after the June meeting. However, they will only participate without any vote and, most probably, will not be entitled to any salaries and perks," the official said.

A few weeks ago, Mr Cuschieri, who had vacated his seat in Parliament so Labour leader Joseph Muscat could be co-opted after the last general election, had expressed his frustration and accused his own party and the government of not doing anything to push his cause. He said he had even written to the leader of the Socialist Group in Brussels, Martin Schultz, but never received a reply.

Although after his resignation as an MP, Mr Cuschieri found himself without a job, he was later employed within the Labour Party.

Malta obtained the right of an added seat in the EP Chamber following a government request during talks on the Lisbon Treaty prior to the 2009 EP elections. Although there was initial resistance, the other member states finally adopted Malta's proposal to set a minimum threshold of six MEPs for every member state.