“I concur with the position adopted by the European Community whereby it abides firmly by the Cairo programme which explicitly rejects coercive abortions and states that in no case should abortions be promoted as a method of family planning but in circumstances where abortion is not against the law such abortions should be safe”, Dr Borg said in answer to a reply by British MEP Gladys Kinnock during his hearing on Tuesday.

Grilled again by Ms Kinnock, who said that she didn’t get a “satisfactory answer” from the Maltese commissioner-designate, Dr Borg replied: “I will repeat the position of the European Union in this regard that in no case should abortion be promoted as a method of family planning, but in circumstances where abortion is not against the law then abortions should be safe and therefore the necessary facilities should be in place in order to guarantee that it would be safe. However that is on the overriding consideration where abortion is not against the law.”

On the question of family planning, the former foreign affairs minister told the EP: “My position is that I am certainly in favour of all necessary measures being taken in order to see to it that there are (sic) proper family planning in place in countries and that the necessary services are provided for.”

This was a departure from the position the Maltese government had taken in Cairo in September 1994.

The Maltese delegation had entered a reservation to the programme of action approved by the Cairo conference with regard to abortion, stating that “the termination of pregnancy through procedures of induced abortion is illegal in Malta. The delegation of Malta therefore cannot accept without reservation that part of paragraph 8.25 which provides for ‘circumstances in which abortion is not against the law’.

“Furthermore the delegation of Malta reserves its position on the wording ‘such abortion should be safe’ since it feels that this phrase could lend itself to multiple interpretations, implying among other things, that abortion can be completely free of medical and other psychological risks, while ignoring altogether the rights of the unborn.”

Malta entered an additional reservation on chapter 7 of the Cairo action plan dealing with “Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health”.

“The delegation of Malta reserves its position on the title and provisions of this chapter and in particular on the use of such terms as ‘reproductive health’, ‘reproductive rights’ and ‘regulation of fertility’ in this chapter and in other parts of the document.”

“The interpretation given by Malta is consistent with its national legislation, which considers the termination of pregnancy through induced abortion as illegal.

“Furthermore, the delegation of Malta reserves its position on the provisions of paragraph 7.2, in particular on ‘international human rights documents and other relevant United Nations consensus documents’, consistent with its previous acceptance or non-acceptance of them”.

The EU, on the other hand, did not make any reservations to the Cairo programme of action. “The EU is fully endorsing the outcome of the Cairo conference,” a European Commission spokesperson told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

As a member of the European Commission, Dr Borg does not represent the Maltese government but the EU. However the significance of this slight shift should not be underestimated.

This is the first time that a prominent Maltese politician from the Christian-Democrat Nationalist Party – which is pretty conservative in its policies on issues of reproductive rights – has publicly declared that in those countries where abortion is legal, it should be possible to carry out abortions in safe conditions.

Is this the forerunner of other policy shifts by Maltese politicians once they join EU institutions?