The interconnector between Malta and Sicily will start operating once tests are concluded, probably in two to three weeks, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this afternoon.

He was speaking in Parliament replying to questions by Opposition leader Simon Busuttil who asked why the interconnector was not switched on today as planned, even though work on it was concluded.

He said he was informed that the inerconnector was tdid not happen because of a technical hitch.

He also asked what plans the government had for the use of this facility.

Dr Busuttil asked what incentives the government would offer the people to make use of solar and wind energy.

Turning to the EU summit conclusions, Dr Busuttil said the opposition supported the government on Libya but it expected accurate information.

What the prime minister said after the EU summit last week was different from what was stated in the official summit conclusions.

Indeed, the conclusions were far from satisfactory and it was not true that the EU had agreed on concrete action, as Dr Muscat had claimed.

However, Dr Muscat said that in its summit conclusions, the European Council agreed that as soon as agreement was reached in Libya to form a national unity government, the EU stood ready with countries in the region to contribute by making full use of all its instruments.

This meant it could use the instruments of the Common Foreign and Security Policy as agreed by Foreign Ministers two days before the summit. It could use the rapid reaction forces which the EU had at its disposal.

Dr Muscat noted that the European Commission vice-president had noted that the idea to target Libya at one go was impossible. So one was seeing where there could be green zone and green lines in a bit to secure airports, Benghazi and refinery infrastructure, among others.

These, he said, were very strong conclusions with the council giving a clear mandate for European operations in Libya once a unity government was formed