Education Minister Dolores Cristina had written to the European Commissioner for Education explaining the measures taken in order that the education programmes Youth in Action and Lifelong learning may be continued.

The commission had suspended funding for both programmes - which include Erasmus - because of concerns over the administration of EU funds.

Mrs Cristina told the Commissioner that all the necessary measures had been taken, the Ministry of Education said this afternoon.

It added that the Permanent Secretary at the ministry yesterday also sent detailed information to the commission on the measures that had been taken following observations by the commission and recommendations by the auditors.

"This shows the government's commitment for the situation to be remedied as soon as possible," the ministry said.

The ministry said that EUPA, the office which manages the educational programmes in Malta, is having contacts with similar agencies in other countries in order to find ways how Maltese students may participate in EU programmes even this year. Malta had last year given such help to Cyprus when the Commission suspended some funds to that country.

Reiterating comments by Richard Cachia Caruana, Malta's permanent representative to the EU, the ministry said the government is considering whether there is scope for compensation to students who would have already incurred expenses.

See also

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100522/local/education-programmes-national-funds-cannot-replace-eu-funds