According to parliamentary secretary for EU funds Ian Borg, the works on December 13 Road were stalled due to “bureaucratic delays”. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

More than 50 EU-funded projects, valued at €590 million, were at risk of being lost due to delays that are now being tackled, according to parliamentary secretary for EU funds Ian Borg.

“We’re working towards not losing a cent. Having a politician responsible for this area shows the Government’s commitment,” the 27-year-old junior minister told The Times, adding that if work had not begun immediately some €120 million could have fallen by the wayside due to commitments that would not have been met.

Dr Borg said 53 projects, such as the works on December 13 Road, were stalled due to “bureaucratic delays” and decisions that were never taken. Other schemes were suspended due to irregularities, incorrect procedure or fraudulent activities that were identified and investigated by the police.

“We are taking stock of each project and liaising with the ministers responsible to make sure we do not lose a cent. Sometimes the projects are stalled because a simple decision has not been taken or because there was a problem that no one tried to solve,” he said.

“My job is to identify the problems and speak to each minister to ensure that we maximise the funds we have been allocated and speed up the process so that nothing is lost.”

Sometimes the projects are stalled because a simple decision has not been taken or because there was a problem that no one tried to solve

Pointing out that in the previous administration there was no one with political clout tasked with overseeing the spending of EU funds in this way, he said: “Sometimes, all it takes is a phone call to get things moving.”

By the end of this year, Malta needs to have committed all the money remaining from the €885 million worth of funds pledged by the EU budget for the seven-year period covering 2007-2013.

The process has already led to the identification of funds that have not been allocated.

“For example, there is €5 million for Malta Enterprise which has to come up with a scheme for businesses to absorb these funds,” he said.

Dr Borg has also come up with a number of proposals to ensure mistakes made in the past are not repeated with the €1.12 billion in EU funds negotiated by the previous Government for 2014-2020.

He said allocations for big projects could not be left to the last part of the legislature since each one was bound by a specific timeframe.

Furthermore, the planning authority and the Department of Contracts should be able to “prioritise” applications which involve EU funds.

“It does not make sense for a small project by a local council to hold back a project which has €50 million worth of EU funds at stake,” the former Dingli mayor said.

Without neglecting the smaller projects, systems could be set up to have decisions taken efficiently and simultaneously in a two-pronged process, such as through the creation of specific committees within the planning authority and Department of Contracts to deal with these major EU-funded projects.

Dr Borg’s secretariat falls under the ministry of Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech who has been tasked with the implementation of Labour’s electoral manifesto.

This link made it easier to coordinate work among the ministries and plan EU fund allocations for the next seven years in a way that makes the process more efficient, he said.