Last week’s resignation of John Dalli as member of the European Commission following an investigation by the EU’s anti-fraud office came like a bolt out of the blue.
I am pressing for Tonio Borg’s confirmation to be completed as swiftly as possible- Simon Busuttil
I was informed of the news as I was making my way to Brussels airport to catch a plane to Bucharest where my political group, the EPP, was to hold its annual congress. Already at the airport, I was almost mobbed by colleague MEPs all clamouring to learn the details on what had happened and why.
The two days that followed in Bucharest were among the most difficult in my eight years in the European Parliament.
There is no question that Dalli should be allowed the room, the time and the serenity to defend his reputation.
At the time of writing we do not know what the anti-fraud office’s report contains. All we know is that José Manuel Barroso felt, in his discretion as president of the Commission, that Dalli’s position was politically untenable. But we do not know why. So Dalli should be allowed the opportunity to clear his name.
All the while there is a vacant post in the European Commission. And that place belongs to Malta. It is in our national interest to fill that place immediately. Each day that passes is a day in which decisions taken by the European Commission are taken without the watchful eye of a member from Malta. This cannot be in our national interest.
The Prime Minister was therefore right to move swiftly to nominate a new person for the post of commissioner. In Tonio Borg he is putting forward a person who is eminently qualified for the job. Not just because of his experience and his established competence but also because he is the number two in government and that, in itself, sends a message of the importance that the Prime Minister attributes to this matter.
There are at least two other important reasons why the process should be completed swiftly.
First, the Commission was expected to publish an important legislative proposal on tobacco, which was at the centre of the alleged bribery attempt. Delaying the appointment of a new commissioner will derail this proposal and this is not in the interest of public health.
Secondly, waiting will damage further the citizens’ trust in the EU institutions, which has already been rocked by this unexpected and unprecedented resignation.
The spotlight will therefore now turn to the process which Borg will have to go through in order to be formally confirmed as a commissioner.
The most tricky part of this process will consist of a public hearing that Borg will have to face in the European Parliament in front of MEPs from the main two parliamentary committees to which he will be answerable, namely the committee responsible for health and the one responsible for consumer protection.
The hearing will consist of a ping-pong question-and-answer session between MEPs and Borg, at the end of which an assessment will be drawn up on whether the committees consider the candidate fit for the job. That assessment will be put to a vote and confirmed in another vote in the full Chamber of the European Parliament.
Although the European Parliament only has the right to be consulted on this matter, it stands to reason that the nominee cannot fall at this hurdle. If he makes it through, however, he will be appointed by the Council, acting in agreement with the president of the Commission. This last part would be a formality.
This leaves just one point: the timing.
If we look at past experience we can see that the time frame for the replacement of a commissioner is of around a month and a half between the date of the resignation and the date of the new appointment. But it may vary.
For instance, when Franco Frattini resigned in May 2008, it took one month and 10 days to replace him and it took one month and 12 days to replace Cypriot Commissioner Markos Kyprianou earlier that year.
But it took just 19 days to replace British Commissioner Peter Mandelson in 2008 when he was appointed to Cabinet. And it took an incredibly short 11 days to replace Slovak Commissioner Jan Figel in 2009 with Maros Sefcovic who, as it happens, is now standing in for Dalli’s portfolio until a new commissioner from Malta is appointed.
Needless to say, along with my political group, the EPP, I am pressing for Borg’s confirmation to be completed as swiftly as possible.
Regrettably, the leader of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, Hannes Swoboda, said last week that Malta should wait until the next election before nominating a new commissioner. This would leave our country without a commissioner for several months. It never happened and it cannot be right.
I take it that this is not the position of the Labour Party in Malta and I hope that the four Labour MEPs will do everything in their power to persuade their Socialist colleagues to avoid this from happening.
Simon Busuttil is a Nationalist MEP.