Updated: Nationalist MEPs reject Labour's burden sharing criticism

Nationalist MEPs Simon Busuttil and David Casa have strongly rejected criticism by their Labour counterparts on burden sharing, describing it as "ridiculous".

The Labour MEPs' criticism was downright incorrect and unfounded, they said.

Labour MEPs Louis Grech, Edward Scicluna and John Attard Montaltoearlier today criticised the EPP group, which the Nationalist Party forms part of, for its failure to agree a principle of burden sharing and solidarity that would allow member states, including Italy, Spain and Malta, to cope with mass migration in the aftermath of the Libya crisis.

They said that both the Socialist and Democrat and EPP groups had tabled separate resolutions on how to deal with the crisis in Libya. However, while the S & D group, at the instigation of the Maltese delegation, demanded burden sharing and the adoption of a Common EU Asylum System, S&D spokeswoman Ana Gomes confirmed that the EPP refused to accept this.

The Labour delegation said:

"No single country will be able to tackle the great and complex difficulties brought about by large flows of migration alone, and this is particularly true in the case of smaller member states."

"What we need is a burden-sharing action plan to help resettle refugees from the region, based on the principle of solidarity between member states, and a special solidarity fund to face the humanitarian pressures caused by the crisis."

So far Malta has evacuated 13,000 people of 89 different nationalities at its own risk. We did this not because of EU legislation or Frontex, but on humanitarian grounds."

Concluding, the delegation stated:

"The Maltese demand meaningful solidarity with a re-location policy based on the principle of burden-sharing. In the light of this it is disappointing and incomprehensible to see the EPP and their shirking this responsibility."

But Dr Busuttil and Mr Casa said that contrary to the Labour MEPs claims "burden sharing is indeed included in today's Resolution on Libya, which in Paragraph 15 specifically calls on the European Commission to respond adequately to any mass migratory movements in accordance with Article 80 of the Treaty."

This paragraph, they said, was drafted by Dr Busuttil and included in the resolution at the request of the EPP. Article 80 requires the EU immigration policy to be based on the principles of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility.

"Before rushing to the press to make baseless accusations, labour MEPs should at least have had the decency to read the text of the resolution," Dr Busuttil and MrCasa said.

"They evidently did not even read it. It is a great pity that the labour MEPs would like to play partisan politics on the situation in Libya. We refuse to play that game," they said.