The government this afternoon turned down a Labour Party request to publish its replies to queries by the European Commission on the power station extension contract.

The call was made by Opposition leader Joseph Muscat when he published a letter to the government sent by the European Commission on June 3, voicing concern about possible violation of EU directives (see separate story).

The government said it was established practice that correspondence was not published before the end of the process.

It said that it understood the Commission's interest to request information from member states in order to ensure that tendering procedures followed European rules.It had therefore, over the past weeks, replied to the queries made by the Commission.

The governemnt said the Auditor General was given all information before he concluded his 11-month inquiry.

In his report the auditor had found no corruption, despite what the Opposition implied, the government said.

"In contrast to the Opposition, the Government respects the conclusions reached by the Auditor-General," a statement said.

It also recalled that the issue was discussed in a parliamentary debate.