EU funds would not be used for the renewal of ID cards in Malta as this did not fall within the competence of Brussels, a European Commission spokesman said.

However, funds from Brussels, €15.8 million, have been approved to help the government build an electronic identity system which will be used as a backbone for the long overdue renewal of identity cards.

Replying to a parliamentary question on the issue by Labour MEP Edward Scicluna, Commissioner Viviane Reding brushed off his call for more information on the subject and reminded him that ID cards did not fall within the Commission’s competence.

Prof. Scicluna wanted to know whether the government had applied for funds to renew ID cards and argued this was particularly important because the system was related to the right to vote in elections.

The Commission refused to get into this sensitive issue.

“Each member state is solely competent to issue its own documents, such as identity cards. The European Commission has no power to intervene in this matter,” Ms Reding told the Labour MEP.

Sources close to the Commission said the EU did not fund any ID card systems and the only funds approved by Brussels were related to the development of an electronic services project submitted by the Infrastructure Ministry.

The project, which will cost €22 million, including the €15.8 million to be forked out by the EU, consists of the development of a range of e-Services including electronic ID card software, electronic forms and electronic learning.

Although the project will also be used as a backbone for the renewal of the Maltese ID card system, the EU will not be forking any money for the ID cards renewal as such. This would have to be paid out of national funds, the sources stressed.

According to the Commission, the project, which has been cleared by a specialised EU committee a few weeks ago, will translate in a secure system enhancing accessibility to e-Services for businesses and citizens, including services deployed through eForms and eLearning.

The eForms solution will offer rapid deployment of eServices while the eLearning solution will deliver education-related services to students, parents, teachers and administrators. In parallel with the eLearning solution, interactive whiteboards will be installed in classrooms in state primary and secondary schools.

The backbone system and the eServices will be financed through the EU programme. However, the Commission stressed the project would not finance the actual rollout of the ID cards.

Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt announced in October the ID card renewal process was expected to start in September 2011 and completed over a 12-month period.

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