The Labour Party expressed concern today that the government had hidden the fact that the European Commission had taken the first step in a procedure which could result in legal proceedings against Malta on the power station extension contract.

The Sunday Times reported yesterday that the Commission had, in June, sent a series of questions to the government following suspicion that community procurement procedures had been broken.

The PL said this was the second time in a few months that the Commission had written to the government on a serious case, the other being the withholding of funds for educational programmes.

Both cases showed a serious lack of transparency by the government, the PL said.

It insisted that, in the national interest and in the interests of accountability, the correspondence with the EU on the power station should be made public.

This issue, it said, was of national and public interest because of the impact of the power station extension on people's health, the environment and government finances.

See also

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100801/local/eu-concerned-that-procurement-law-may-have-been-broken-in-power-station-tender