Karmenu Vella feels his presence at a Labour Party activity was not unbecoming for a sitting European commissioner and insisted that he had not breached the code of conduct regulating his Brussels-based post.
Mr Vella backed his argument by citing the participation of European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker at the European People’s Party congress being held in Malta.
Mr Vella, who has the environment, maritime affairs and fisheries portfolio, was present as Prime Minister and Labour leader Joseph Muscat addressed a political activity at Mr Vella’s hometown of Żurrieq. Dr Muscat started his address with a warm welcome to il-Guy, as Mr Vella is known.
“I went to Europe and got back il-Guy with me,” Dr Muscat remarked, congratulating the former Labour Cabinet minister for the “sterling” work he was doing in Brussels. According to their code of conduct, European commissioners “must neither seek nor take instructions from any government or from any other body”.
Though they are allowed to be members of national and European political parties, the code states that European commissioners “should abstain from making public statements or interventions on behalf of any political party or trade union of which they are members, except where they are standing for election”.
Political observers told the Times of Malta that, apart from being perceived as endorsing the Labour government, Mr Vella’s presence at the activity could raise doubts, given his role as Brussel’s watchdog on Malta’s environmental track record, which, among other things, included hunting and trapping.
Mr Vella pointed out, however, that, before deciding to attend, he had sought advice and was reassured that his presence at the Labour activity was “in line” with the commissioners’ code of conduct.
He also pointed out that commissioners were allowed to attend political activities, citing the case of the EPP congress being held in Malta, where the commission president himself would be one of the speakers.
Sources familiar with the College of Commissioners described Mr Vella’s line of defence as “technically” correct but nevertheless questionable from a “political” perspective.
“Suppose the Commission were to open infringement proceedings against Malta on hunting and trapping. Would it make sense for Commissioner Vella to make Brussels’ case against the Labour government?” they asked.
Mr Vella is considered by many in the political arena to be a Labour stalwart who has served under various Labour administrations from the days of Dom Mintoff almost four decades ago.
In 2014, he relinquished his post as tourism minister after being nominated to serve as European commissioner.