Just 30 per cent of Malta’s €1 billion EU funds was used up by the Nationalist administration, according to Parliamentary Secretary Ian Borg.
Malta was given €988 million by the European Commission in 2006, but by 2013 less than €296 million had been spent on EU projects, the third worst absorption rate.
In fact, figures compiled by the parliamentary secretariat show that none of the money was used during the first two years of the 2007-2013 funding period.
Dr Borg told Times of Malta that since taking office the rate had almost doubled, with 57 per cent of the funds put into use by June.
“I found a lot of projects had not been given the go-ahead. They were tied up in a mess of bureaucracy. We had a situation where we literally had to use hundreds of millions of euros in a matter of months.”
Asked if it was normal for the absorption rate to be relatively low until the end of the financial period, Dr Borg said EU documents provided to the government showed that nearly all the other member states had fared far better than Malta when it came to making use of the EU kitty.
“If you look at countries like Estonia, which has also been in the EU for around 10 years, it had utilised double the amount of funds we had by the time I took office. This isn’t right,” he said.
The financing period came to an end last year. However Brussels allows member states a further two years to finalise pending projects.
I found a lot of projects... tied up in a mess of bureaucracy
Asked to comment on the previous government’s absorption rate, a PN spokesman noted that the programming period, within which disbursements can be made, runs up to the end of 2015. Also, the tendering process required time to conclude.
He also made a distinction between absorption and allocation, with a 91 per cent rate in the latter achieved by 2012, one of the best rates in the EU. “Now this government has almost three years to close off the projects and secure a good absorption rate.”
Meanwhile, Times of Malta yesterday reported that the list of projects on which Malta will spend €1.2 billion worth of EU funds had been accepted by the European Commission.
The funding period will stretch to 2020 but Dr Borg said the island would not get away with a lax use of funds this time round. The Commission would be carrying out a stocktaking exercise midway through the next period to ensure funds were not wasted.
“If funds aren’t used properly, we may lose the rest,” he said.
Dr Borg said he had liaised with different authorities and departments to minimise bottlenecks and ensure funds were retained. The measures included new offices within the contracts department and the planning authority to fast track projects.
Meanwhile, projects such as those aimed at helping households turn to cleaner energy saw more than €20 million taken up.
“We are still trying to use up these funds. We have until 2015 to get through €550 million. That’s my target,” Dr Borg said.