Karmenu Vella closed a parliamentary career lasting nearly four decades this evening, resigning his seat in order to become a European Commissioner.

Mr Vella handed in his resignation at the end of today's sitting, but not before delivering his final speech during the adjournment.

The Żurrieq native was first elected to parliament at the age of 26 in 1976 - he was then the youngest MP - and he has been re-elected ever since.

Mr Vella has served as a minister under four different Prime Ministers - Dom Mintoff, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, Alfred Sant and Joseph Muscat. He resigned from cabinet last March after being nominated to become the next Maltese member of the European Commission, and will be formally appointed as Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Commissioner on Saturday.

The Commissioner-designate's final address was preceded by a brief tribute by the only MP to have served since 1976 - fellow Labour MP Joe Debono Grech, who said that he was somewhat sad to see Mr Vella leave for Brussels after all the experiences that they shared, whilst wishing him all success for the future.

Mr Debono Grech said that he and Mr Vella shared positive experiences and more difficult ones over the decades, but remained friends throughout.

In his address, Mr Vella, who is 64, said that one never knew what the future held, and thus refused to state that his parliamentary career is over. Instead, he simply said that this would be the speech marking his resignation during this legislature.

He noted that in his career, he occupied a wide variety of roles, including that of a backbencher, of a cabinet minister occupying different portfolios, and as opposition spokesman for issues including tourism and finance.

Mr Vella said that his long parliamentary career taught him the importance of respecting different opinions, and said that he was proud to have never had any personal dispute with any MP. He said that he always strived to serve without denigrating anyone in government and in opposition, stating that if anything, he was even more careful when he served as a minister.

The Commissioner-designate said that he also learned that there were few occasions in which one was entirely right or entirely wrong, stating that tolerating and understanding others' views was not a show of weakness but of maturity.

As he concluded his speech, he thanked his constituents for their continued trust in him and his family for their support, before paying tribute to his late parents.

"There are no words to describe what they have done for me... I will not even try to say them."

Tributes by Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech and opposition whip David Agius followed, with the latter stating that while Mr Vella had a difficult role ahead, he had no doubt that he would be able to face it.

Mr Vella's final speech was filmed following a request by government deputy whip Deborah Schembri, a request which was backed on the opposition's behalf by its deputy leader Mario de Marco.

However, Dr de Marco pointed out that just last Monday, the government had prevented a debate on the delay in the construction of the new ElectroGas power station to be filmed.

But he added that in spite of what had happened, the opposition did not object to filming Mr Vella's last address, stating that it did not object to filming anything that took place in parliament. In reply, Dr Schembri argued that the two cases were not comparable, as debates were not typically filmed while MP's final speeches - including that of outgoing Commissioner Tonio Borg in 2012 - are.