Labour EP candidate Sharon Ellul Bonici said today that she had been proved right in saying that the Lisbon Treaty was not needed for Malta to be allocated a sixth seat in the European Parliament.

She noted that the EP has decided that the sixth candidate elected in Malta's EP elections, as well as 17 candidates in other countries, would be given observer status in the European Parliament before the Lisbon treaty was ratified.

“At last they have had to recognise the possibility of using the Croatia accession treaty if the Lisbon treaty fails. But there are even more possibilities. Malta’s sixth seat does not have to depend on any particular treaty,” she said.

She said that the Prime Minister had been among those who had accused her of working against Malta’s sixth seat by campaigning against the Lisbon treaty. At the time, she had pointed out that although the Lisbon treaty was a good vehicle for the change to be brought about, it was not the only one.

"The new EP seating composition, required after Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007, was a result of the Severin-Lamassoure report. This was agreed in the European Parliament and subsequently by all member states and annexed to the Lisbon treaty for ratification.

"This amendment could be annexed to the Croatia accession treaty and it could also be agreed separately in Council for ratification in all member states. Moreover, the amendment would not require a referendum in Ireland since it relates purely to EU institutional affairs," Ms Ellul Bonici said.

"We should view the Lisbon treaty for what it is and stop describing it as 'the treaty that gives Malta the sixth seat' – this is a lopsided view, just like the one that said the ‘Nice treaty was an enlargement treaty’," Ms Ellul-Bonici concluded.