The European Commission this afternoon formally announced the closure of its investigation into the extension of the Delimara power plant
"Today the European Commission closed an investigation into Malta's possible breach of EU public procurement rules for a contract that was awarded for the extension and maintenance of a power plant station in Delimara. The Commission's investigation did not concern the entire process for the award of the contract, but focused only on two public procurement issues," the EU said.
"First, a concern that a change in emissions legislation seemed to have favoured diesel powered plants over other available technologies (gas engines or gas turbines, for example).
"Second, that a lack of immediate individual notification of the award decision prejudiced the right of appeal of an unsuccessful bidder. The investigation is being closed because the Commission has not found evidence that Malta violated the specific EU public procurement rules they were under investigation for."
The Commission retains the right to reopen any investigation should additional facts become available.
The government had announced, on November 27, that the EU was to close its investigation.
The proceedings had been launched in June.
The closure means the Commission found no violation of EU procurement rules, a situation which would have seen Malta taken before the European Court of Justice.
The Labour Party said in a reaction this afternoon that the European Commission did not investigate, because it was not its duty to do so, the irregularities mentioned by the Labour Party and in the Auditor General's report.
The Commission made it clear that it only investigated two aspects which were related to European regulations. It did not investigate the process in the contract award. It said it would reopen investigations if new facts came up.
The party said it was not happy with the way things were done in the case of the extension. The contract was investigated by the Auditor General who found a number of irregularities. He did not find conclusive evidence of corruption because of a lack of collaboration by the people involved.
The Commission, the PL said, did not investigate the change of the law on emission levels which was made on the instigation of BWSC so that it could be eligible for, and eventually win. It also did not investigate the fact that the BWSC agent in Malta had boasted he had contracts in Enemalta and at the highest political levels in order to win the contract.
The PL said it eagerly awaited the opportunity to listen to the witnesses at the Public Accounts Committee.
In a reaction in November said the EU had not investigated the irregularities which the party had mentioned, or the irregularities mentioned in the report by the Auditor-General, because that was not its role.
The European Commission had not investigated how t
Neither had the EU investigated how the BWSC agent in Malta boasted that he had good contacts at Enemalta and political circles.
The Nationalist Party said the EU decision confirmed that the campaign waged by the Labour Party was just ‘smoke’. The EU decision, it said, followed closely on the declaration by the Auditor-General that had he found any corruption, he would have gone straight to the police.
Now that the EU had investigated the points raised by the PL and found no violation of the law, the PL was trying to minimise what the EU had decided, the PN said.