The Maltese government has reacted after a statement in the British parliament wrongly suggested the UK would chair environmental meetings on Malta’s behalf during the 2017 EU presidency.
Ian Borg, the parliamentary secretary responsible for the presidency, told the Times of Malta that the government would not be ceding chairmanship of any meetings during the six-month presidency.
“This an obligation that Malta will fulfil,” he said. “We can expect to hold some 1,500 meetings in Brussels and 150 in Malta; all those meetings will be chaired by Maltese officials.”
He added that the government had made a representation to the British High Commissioner over the statement, which he said did not accurately represent the reality of the situation.
The issue arose after the British government environment department said in response to a parliamentary question last week that it had “held preliminary discussions with representatives from Malta on support for chairing [environmental] meetings during the Maltese presidency”.
The statement immediately raised concerns, with Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Arnold Cassola questioning whether the government was abdicating its environmental responsibility.
“The British environmental agenda is completely different to Malta’s,” Dr Cassola told this newspaper.
“This is an opportunity to set the European agenda on an issue of great importance to our country.”
Dr Borg, however, said that what the British government had referred to was a technical discussion in London in August over possible avenues of cooperation.
He said similar meetings were continuously being held with all European countries and particularly the rest of the “trio” of successive presidencies, comprising Slovakia and the Netherlands. Britain will take over the rotating presidency immediately after Malta, in the latter half of 2017.
According to Dr Borg, the meeting in London did not reach any conclusions and there has been no follow-up. Minutes from the meeting seen by this newspaper show that Malta is considering not holding meetings on areas, such as whaling, that are not considered a priority to the country.
These meetings would instead be held by Britain during its EU presidency. Also discussed was the possibility of technical support, such as providing specialised experts, in areas where Malta did not have the relevant resources.