The Prime Minister yesterday said he had no difficulty adopting a common front on immigration, as he reacted to a call by the Opposition leader for this position to be taken under certain conditions, including shunning pushbacks.

However, denying a point made by Simon Busuttil, Joseph Muscat said the Labour Opposition had always unconditionally supported the Nationalist administrations even if, at times, it was critical of the government’s actions.

He quoted several examples, when even former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi had acknowledged this cooperation.

He also agreed it would be best to see MEPs work together although he said this was not what had happened over the Individual Investor Programme.

Opposition leader Dr Busuttil’s call for a common front followed a statement by Dr Muscat on last week’s European Council summit.

Dr Busuttil proposed that immigration should be removed from the long list of partisan issues which divided the two parties, and that MPs should work together both in Malta and in Brussels.

However, Dr Busuttil listed five conditions, including that human life was not negotiable and the priority would always be to save lives. Once Malta helped save lives, it would then do everything to control immigration so that this would not become a burden.

Everyone had the right to be treated with dignity and the right to ask for protection. The pushback policy would not be acceptable but whoever did not qualify for asylum would be sent back.

Populist policies and everything that fanned the flames of racism and xenophobia had to be avoided.

Dr Busuttil said there had to be sincere cooperation between the government and the Opposition, and the latter needed to be kept informed and updated during regular meetings at parliamentary committee level.

Malta had been facing the challenge of irregular immigration since 2002 but unfortunately Nationalist governments never had the support of the Labour Opposition on his issue.

The Prime Minister had promised a lot but had not achieved much. During the past 10 years there had been a consistent reference to burden sharing.

Malta did not need solidarity but for the practice to be honoured. On such a delicate issue it was not right to play around with words or try to deceive people, Dr Busuttil said.

He said he had decided to do things differently, opting for political maturity and co-operation rather than the trading of insults.

Dr Muscat said the clear reference to the sharing of responsibility on the issue of immigration among the conclusions of last week’s EU summit was a major step forward, particularly in view of the ongoing tragedy in the Mediterranean.

An hour before yesterday’s sitting, 600 people had entered Italy from Africa, and since Friday, there had been 17 crossings from Africa to Europe.

The AFM was keeping a close watch and Dr Muscat expressed concern that their resources were all being dedicated to the operation of saving illegal immigrants’ lives. This was the point he was making with the EU.

The Italians, who were doing an excellent job together with Malta, had other resources available to them but Malta was using its capacity one hundred per cent.

Dr Muscat said he was informed that Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had called a Cabinet meeting to discuss the Mare Nostrum mission.

This year landings in Malta were manageable but things could change as this was a relatively new phenomenon, since crossings used to be more organised before. Malta could face huge pressure in the near future.

One of the Italian warships, the Orione, was currently in isolation, as one of the people it picked up was suspected to be suffering from a very serious infectious disease.

This was the first time something like this had happened and one had to see what to do about it.

Dr Muscat said the government did not want unaccompanied minors to be kept in detention. The government was working towards setting up a place for immigrants that was not an upgraded detention centre, with a different name.

Talks had been held with the International Organisation for Migration and the UNHCR to discuss the new centre’s management, as well as how immigrant identification could improve.

The government did not agree with immigrants having the right to vote, as advocated by Aditus, he said, but Dr Muscat believed other systems of integration had to be looked at. For integration to be a success the numbers had to be manageable. The government was committed to integration, adding that the onus on Malta and similar countries was on the rise.

I think Juncker will have the necessary impetus to prove his critics wrong

Commenting on the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker as European Commission president – which Dr Busuttil also welcomed – Dr Muscat said this could be seen from as positive or negative.

He aligned himself with the former, as for the first time there was a direct democratic link between the people and the appointment of the EC president, when this normally happened behind closed doors.

On the other hand others said the choice was ultimately still taken by the council. Dr Muscat said Mr Juncker had always struck him as extremely practical.

Although in favour of a federal Europe, he also defended Luxembourg on tax issues. “I also think he’ll have the necessary impetus to prove his critics wrong,” he said.

Mr Juncker would certainly be asked how he interpreted the term ‘flexibility’, Dr Muscat said. One idea which had arisen was whether the sum certain countries paid to help bail out Greece or other EU member states should count towards their debt.

Dr Muscat believed there should be room for flexibility, but once a decision was reached this should apply to all countries.

On the issue of energy, Dr Muscat told Mario de Marco (PN) he was hopeful that Parliament would shortly debate Enemalta and the energy sector.

What happened in Russia a while back was an eye-opener to the fact that there was a continent dependent almost entirely on one country for its source of energy.

Commenting on the South Stream (the pipeline between Russia and Bulgaria, Austria and other countries), Dr Muscat said Russia was insisting European laws should not apply to this type of investment.

There were two solutions; more renewable energy sources and more energy coming from other countries. Two places were mentioned: Azerbaijan and the Mediterranean.

The latter was more advantageous, particularly for Malta, which could become the hub of exchange through which energy passed.