Malta may bid to host the planned EU Asylum Agency, The Times has learned. A formal decision is still to be taken on whether to do so, probably at Cabinet level.
"Although it is still too early to state whether Malta will be on the list of host candidates, we are looking at this possibility with interest," a senior government source said, adding that the agency was a step in the right direction.
Malta has long been pushing the EU to give concrete help to member states facing huge pressures due to the inflow of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers.
Although the Commission's proposal for the setting up of a European Asylum Support Office was only made last week, EU Council sources yesterday said a number of member states have already signalled their interest in hosting the new agency.
Greece has already started lobbying and others will follow suit in the coming weeks. Italy can also be one of the possible candidates.
The Commission's proposal is now expected to be discussed officially for the first time during a meeting of EU Justice Ministers in Brussels later on this week at which Malta will be represented by Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici.
A clearer picture should then emerge on which member states are interested in hosting the new agency.
The seat of a new agency is considered to be a "hot issue" in EU circles as normally many member states want to host agencies. Apart from the prestige, an EU agency comes with some economic benefits including highly paid jobs, a good-sized budget, travel and conference hosting and other economic spin-offs.
However, if the government decides to make a bid, Malta has to tread carefully as past forays have not achieved the desired results - it has twice lost out. In 2005, the EU's border control agency Frontex was given to Poland while last year, Malta was outdone by Barcelona to host the seat of the Union for the Mediterranean.
The seat of an EU agency is officially decided by EU leaders through a unanimous agreement however the real work is normally done by member states beforehand in lobbying and "corridor" diplomacy.
According to the Commission's proposal, the new EU Asylum Agency will be set up in 2010 and will be responsible to coordinate and step up cooperation on asylum between member states and help to harmonise different national practices.
According to the proposal, upon a request by a member state, the agency should be able to send specialised teams of experts to the member states affected within five days time to help in identification, translation, interpretation, accommodation and repatriation issues.
The new office will also support member states in their efforts to implement a more consistent and fairer asylum policy, including by identifying good practices, organising training at European level and improving access to accurate information on countries of origin. It will also provide scientific and technical assistance for the development of asylum policy and legislation.