Brussels still not happy on Air Malta
Brussels still dissatisfied as negotiations being closed
The European Commission is expected to decide on Air Malta’s state aid package in a few weeks’ time.
While announcing that a final decision is expected shortly, European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said Brussels was still awaiting some information from the Maltese authorities, hinting that his office was still not completely satisfied with the airline’s plan.
Quizzed by Labour MEP Edward Scicluna during a general debate on new state aid rules at a session of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament , Mr Almunia admitted that state aid cases similar to Air Malta’s took long to conclude.
“We have been working on the restructuring of Air Malta for a long time and, hopefully, we are nearing the end,” he said.
“In these sort of negotiations, we don’t have all the tools in our hand and if the other parties, the national authorities, in this case, are not providing us with the information we require or the restructuring plan submitted is not in agreement with our state aid rules, we would need to continue the negotiations. We cannot impose our own ideas,” he said.
In a statement, Prof. Scicluna said the commissioner had accused the Maltese government of failing to provide the information needed to conclude on the state aid package.
“Maltese taxpayers are rightly perplexed that they see billions of euros being provided by the EU to bailout banks while, at the same time, it is taking ages for the Commission to give the go ahead for the government to restructure our national airline using our own money.
“The Commission produced a detailed review of the Air Malta case in January in which it called on the government to provide further information before they could approve the bailout. But Commissioner Almunia says he is still waiting,” Prof. Scicluna said.
The Finance Ministry described the statement as “ludicrous”, accusing him of trying to pass on misleading information to the press by selectively choosing Mr Almunia’s quotes.
The government said the complex negotiations had progressed well and at “the end of the formal investigation process initiated by the Commission, the efficiency with which the government handled the Air Malta case will be clearly demonstrated”.
It noted that out of the seven state aid cases dealing with EU airlines in the past seven years, only one would have been concluded at a quicker pace than Air Malta’s.
Prof. Scicluna should be aware of the fact that such competition cases, particularly in the sensitive sector of aviation, took longer than just a few months to complete, the ministry said.
Air Malta presented its restructuring plan in May 2011 after the government issued an urgent €52 million rescue package at the end of 2010 avoiding the airline going bankrupt.
According to the plan, €238 million will be pumped in to shore up the company’s capital requirements and implement the five-year plan, with €130 million coming directly from state coffers and the rest, €108 million, obtained through Air Malta’s own contribution and commercial loans taken through banks.
The company is aiming to make a full turnaround by the end of the five-year restructuring programme. If it fails, the company will have to either fold or the government, the airline’s main shareholder, will have to privatise it.