Updated 9.50pm, adds David Casa's reaction
Nationalist MEPs voted for tax harmonisation against Malta’s interests, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Saturday.
Addressing an activity in Gozo, Dr Muscat reiterated the claims made earlier by Labour MEP Miriam Dalli, which claims were later denied by the Nationalist MEPs.
In a post on Facebook following Dr Dalli’s press conference, Nationalist MEP David Casa said Nationalist MPs voted against this matter, which only the Labour Party agreed with. The PL, he pointed out, supported socialist candidate Frans Timmermans who had come up with this idea.
Labour, however, replied that while the PN MEPS had voted against certain amendments, they voted in favour of others, including moving from unanimous approval to approval by a qualified majority, where the vote of bigger countries was worth more than that of smaller ones.
Dr Muscat said that while frightening people that foreigners could tell Malta what to do about taxes, the Nationalist MEPs voted against Malta retaining its veto on such matters
He said that the taxation system the Nationalist MEPs voted agains had been inherited from a Nationalist government and was in conformity with EU regulations. The Prime Minister promised that it would continue to find the government’s support.
European Socialists, he said, knew that the Malta’s Labour Party did not agree with its position.
He said he was giving the Nationalist MEPs a chance to correct their vote, adding that the Maltese and other governments would never give up their right to veto such matters.
Dr Muscat encouraged his listeners to vote for Labour candidates in the forthcoming MEP and local elections.
In comments to Times of Malta, Mr Casa insisted the Labour Party was lying when it said that Nationalist MEPs had voted against Malta’s taxation system.
"The PN introduced Malta’s taxation system, has defended it within the European Union for last 15 years and will always continue to do so."
Mr Casa said the Labour Party was shunned in the EU because it had to spend the last five years defending corrupt politicians to the detriment of the Maltese.
And just weeks ago Dr Muscat was in Madrid to endorse a manifesto that clearly set out the European Socialist Party’s agenda for the next five years – tax harmonisation.
Blatant lies about PN MEPs’ position on taxation issues were a pathetic attempt to draw attention away from the party's astounding ineptitude at EU level.
Not only had PN MEPs always voted to defend Malta’s tax system, they also campaigned strongly and consistently in favour of Malta’s position on taxation.