A presentation on the ACTA agreement due to have been given today to the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee had to be put off by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech because he is attending an EU Finance Ministers' meeting in Brussels.
During a sitting this afternoon Labour MP George Vella said it would have been better had the debate taken place before the government signed the treaty.
It would now be more awkward for Malta not to ratify the agreement after it had been signed, Dr Vella said.
Opening the debate, Nationalist MP Francis Zammit Dimech, who chairs the committee, said it is normal for Parliament to debate a treaty after it is signed.
In any case, he added, ratification was subject to parliamentary scrutiny and this was provided for at law.
Acta was an important agreement and had to be scrutinised in detail. The committee should hear the contributions of all those interested in the matter, Dr Zammit Dimech said.
"We have no filtering here," Dr Zammit Dimech said, adding that it was good to have lobby groups both in favour and against. However, the committee would have to make an objective analyses.
Michael Farrugia, Labour spokesman on IT, said there was no obligation for EU countries to sign the treaty. It appeared, he said, that this was a 'take it or leave it' treaty with no elbow room for countries to propose changes or opt out.
He said that if the agreement breached human rights, it should not be ratified adding that the government jumped the gun when it signed despite the serious doubts surrounding it.
Reacting to Dr Farrugia's comments, Dr Zammit Dimech said the agreement included provisions which safeguarded privacy and human rights, and no action could be taken without due process.
Joe Falzon (PN) said it was important that the committee was given a brief of current legislation to determine whether Acta would change this.
Leo Brincat (PL) said the minister, at the next meeting, should say if the government was comfortable with the covert way how this treaty was negotiated and signed - raising the suspicions that existed now.
"Was the government under undue pressure to sign the treaty? Did the government consult anyone, such as the Communications Authority and the Data Protection Commissioner, before signing the agreement?"
He also asked about the situation regarding Malta's current copyright law, which made safeguards for educational matters.
Mr Brincat said he heard opinions saying that Acta does not allow this, which, if true, would necessitate changes to copyright legislation.
MEP Edward Scicluna gave a brief overview of the process in the European Parliament.
He said there were various committees of the EP asking for various reports and clarifications. The positions regarding the agreement seemed to be three:
* to give consent for Acta to go ahead;
* to have an interim report prepared before Parliament votes; and
* to refer the matter to the European Court of Justice for the court's opinion on its compatibility with EU legislation.
Labour MP Luciano Busuttil proposed the committee also hear submissions from the Data Protection Commissioner, the Malta Communications Authority, ISPs and the Attorney General. His suggestion was taken up.
The committee agreed to meet again on February 17 to continue the discussion, starting with the minister's presentation. The committee will also request submissions from the public and interested parties.