In his first public comments following his nomination for the post of European Commissioner, outgoing Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella admitted feeling rather apprehensive at the prospect of a three-hour grilling session by the European Parliament.
On the other hand he is thankful to the Prime Minister for giving him what he described as “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to serve in the EU’s executive body.
Mr Vella, whose political career stretches back more than three decades, was speaking to Times of Malta yesterday following his last media engagement as Tourism Minister in the wake of last Saturday’s Cabinet reshuffle. Edward Zammit Lewis will today be sworn in as his successor.
The Prime Minister’s announcement that Mr Vella would be nominated to succeed Commissioner Tonio Borg in Brussels, once Dr Borg’s term expires later this year, came as a surprise to most as he was not touted to be in the running.
The veteran politician, who served as Minister for Industry under Dom Mintoff in the early 1980s, admitted that even he was taken by surprise but immediately welcomed the “huge challenge”.
“Though now I have been involved in national politics for many years, this is an opportunity to work on a European level,” Mr Vella said.
Asked about his commitments in the run-up to his formal nomination, which will be put to vote in the European Parliament towards the end of the year, Mr Vella said he would be focusing closely on EU matters to understand how things worked in Brussels.
The first important stage will be the election of the new President of the Commission which for the first time will be decided indirectly by voters across member states in the forthcoming European Parliament elections.
I would rather face this challenge with a degree of caution
“Once this issue is settled we would be in a position to learn which portfolio would be assigned to the Maltese commissioner and so would be able to focus on a specific sector,” he said.
Mr Vella said the grilling session would be expected to take place sometime in September. He admitted being apprehensive about it. “I would rather face this challenge with a degree of caution rather than be over confident or take things for granted.”
Regarding the reservations expressed by the Opposition, who lamented they were not consulted on his nomination, Mr Vella pointed out that at no stage did the PN say they would not back him. He added that this was not an issue of political controversy so Malta had to unite behind its nominee.
On a personal note, the outgoing Tourism Minister was asked whether in his new role as backbencher he would be lending his support to his daughter-in-law Miriam Dalli who is running for the European Parliament election on the Labour ticket. “Hopefully she will do well, but I will not involve myself in her campaign.”