(Adds PN statement)
The Finance Ministry said this afternoon it received communication from the European Commission asking for further information related to the Malta's draft Budget 2015 submitted by Malta on October 15.
It said this procedure was normal practice according to new regulations under the two-pack system introduced for the first time last year. A similar request was received last year.
The ministry said it would provide the information requested and was confident that the process would be concluded positively.
Earlier Times of Malta reported that the European Commission is seeking clarifications on Malta’s Budget for next year, along with five other eurozone countries.
The government said yesterday is had no knowledge of this issue, but Times of Malta confirmed that Malta, with Italy, France, Austria, and Slovenia, have been asked for clarifications on their draft Budgets, presented last week.
“At this stage the Commission is demanding clarifications,” Commission sources told this newspaper. “This doesn’t mean we will not approve Malta’s draft Budget or will ask the island for a revision. We are just seeking more information.
Asked to confirm whether Malta had received a letter from the Commission and to say why its Budget was being singled out for the second year in a row, the Finance Ministry said it had not yet received any communication from Brussels.
In a statement this afternoon the Nationalist Party said the Finance Minister could not be believed.
While yesterday he said he did not know that the Commission would be requesting changes, when the media confirmed with the European Commission that changes were being requested, the minister was now admitting they were.
Exactly like Joseph Muscat, Prof. Scicluna could not be believed.
In a reply, the government said that in its letter today, the European Commission did not speak about any changes but requested clarifications as part of procedures introduced by the Union last year.
More on Times of Malta and the e-paper on timesofmalta.com Premium.