Minister confident suspended EU funds will be re-activated

Education Minister Dolores Cristina is confident Brussels will lift the suspension of EU funds for educational programmes when a delegation visits Malta later this month to assess the situation.

The funds were frozen by the Commission in May due to the “persistent absence of assurances” they were being managed “according to the necessary standards”.

Commission sources said the forthcoming visit would ascertain whether EU requirements were being complied with on the basis of “reliable evidence”.

Mrs Cristina said her ministry had put all its efforts into ensuring compliance. “We have done our best to meet the requirements and we believe the suspension should be lifted,” Mrs Cristina said.

There are no timeframes yet for when the Lifelong Learning and Youth in Action Programme, affected by the fund freeze, will re-start because the Commission would have to wait for a final report from its mission.

In June, Commission officials indicated the suspension was not expected to be lifted before the end of this year.

A few years ago, it took Cyprus a whole year to get a similar suspension lifted.