The European Commission has expressed satisfaction that the Maltese Parliament contributed an opinion for the first time in four years.
The Commission had taken the initiative to consult national MPs when drafting its rules but Malta was just one of three countries that failed to engage in any form of dialogue.
In its annual report on relations with national parliaments in 2009, the Commission said it noted with satisfaction that it had received for the first time an opinion from the Maltese House of Representatives.
In an unprecedented move, Commission president José Manuel Barroso started to involve national MPs in the formulation of EU legislation by sending national Chambers all the Commission's proposals for their scrutiny and observation.
The former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Louis Galea had admitted Parliament's lack of initiative, citing insufficient resources.
However, it seems that, although minimally, the Maltese Parliament last year made an effort to change the perception in Brussels and responded to a Commission proposal on granting new rights to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings. The initiative was taken by the Committee of Foreign and European Affairs, at the time headed by today's Speaker, Michael Frendo.
A Commission official said that, although Malta was still considered to be among the member states which were not yet fully integrated in the political dialogue with national Parliaments initiated in 2006, "at least there has been a first sign that things are finally changing".
"Although we wish Malta's Chamber will participate much more in this dialogue, we are satisfied that, at least, there has been a start," the official said.
Many member states are taking this dialogue very seriously and some are considered to be very active in discussing the Commission's proposals and sending their opinion to Brussels for further consideration. According to the Commission, the most proactive national parliaments last year were Portugal (47 opinions), the Czech Republic (27 opinions) and the Netherlands (19 opinions). On the other hand, some member states did not submit a single opinion on the 139 Commission dossiers sent to national parliaments during 2009. According to Brussels, the 2009 laggards were Spain, Poland, Romania, Finland and Slovakia.
Malta's parliamentary engagement with the EU has been lacking since membership in 2004. The island is the only EU member state which does not yet have a Permanent Representative in Brussels accredited to the European Parliament, despite the available facilities and office space.
According to the Parliament's administration, the House does not have the financial means yet to send a representative.
Through the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty at the beginning of the year, the role of national parliaments in the EU increased drastically and many member states have boosted the resources of their parliaments to be able to participate more in the process.