Malta’s MEPs failed to take part in a quarter of all votes taken in the plenary, placing last in a ranking by a transparency watchdog.
However, the six Maltese representatives also had their fair share of success, placing first in the number of opinions drafted and third in the number of draft reports that made it to the plenary.
The end-of-term report by Vote Watch Europe, an independent organisation, analyses the activity records of MEPs grouped by member state. It covers the legislative period 2009 to 2014.
Maltese MEPs took part in 75 per cent of roll call votes taken in the European Parliament plenary, held once a month in Strasbourg.
However, the participation rate still put Malta bottom of the list, below Lithuania and Greece.
They took part in 75 per cent of roll call votes in the monthly plenary
The figure took into consideration voting participation irrespective of the number of days an MEP attended the plenary. Since roll call votes take place on most plenary days, the participation rate can be a good indicator of attendance, according to the watchdog.
Austrian MEPs had the highest participation rate, having cast ballots in more than 90 per cent of roll call votes, followed by Slovakian representatives.
Malta took pole position in the number of opinions drafted, averaging five opinions per MEP throughout the legislative period.
It surpassed second-placed Denmark, whose MEPs each notched up an average of four.
Opinions are documents produced by one committee to assist another in producing a report, and usually contain proposed changes to legislative and non-legislative proposals.
MEPs score highly for opinions, draft reports
The high ranking was primarily a result of the seven opinions drafted by veteran Nationalist MEP David Casa, according to Vote Watch.
Maltese MEPs also ranked third for the number of draft reports that served as a basis for adopting a legislative and non-legislative proposal.
The rapporteur is chosen from among the members of the parliamentary committee responsible for the specific policy area.
Vote Watch analysed only those reports that reached plenary stage and found that Maltese MEPs had an average of four reports each to their name.
But when it came to co-decision reports – used in circumstances when the Parliament and the EU council have an equal say in approving legislation – Maltese MEPs came last, with no reports to their name in five years.
The six MEPs were also among the least active to shape the text of reports by proposing amendments. Malta ranked 25th from 28 member states as MEPs only presented an average of 41 amendments each.
Finnish MEPs hit the top spot in trying to change texts, presenting an average of 146 amendments each throughout the five-year term.
The records also showed dismal activity when it came to the signing of motions for resolutions, which are used by MEPs to make suggestions to the entire Parliament to adopt a formal position on a matter.
These motions often target breaches of human rights, democracy and rule of law and are non-binding. One such motion was presented in January on European citizenship that discussed Malta’s individual investor programme – also known as the cash for citizenship scheme.
Maltese MEPs only clocked an average of eight signings for resolutions each in five years, placing them 27th, one rung ahead of bottom-placed Hungary.
As for the number of parliamentary questions put to the European Commission and the Council, Maltese MEPs placed an average of 149 questions each.
They ranked sixth with Vote Watch noting that the top three places were occupied by MEPs from Portugal, Greece and Ireland, some of the countries most affected by the economic crisis.
Vote Watch used the EU institutions’ attendance, voting and activity data to give a full overview of MEP and member state activities.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com