The vote was take at the European Parliament in Strasbourg yesterday afternoon. While Commissioner Borg’s approval was taken in an en bloc vote for the whole European Commission, Professor Bonnici was approved in a vote taken for every individual nominated.

The person nominated to represent the Slovak Republic in the European Court of Auditors was not approved while the one representing Cyprus withdrew his nomination before the vote was taken.

Speaking to The Malta Independent, both Commissioner Borg and Professor Bonnici expressed their sincere gratitude and the honour they felt that they will representing Malta at European level.

Commissioner Borg said that during yesterday’s session, just before voting was held, around 30 members of the European Parliament spoke about the new Commission. He said two of them commented on the stand he had taken on family planning and reproductive health during his hearing on 17 April. These comments, he said, have to be taken in one’s stride.

Asked whether they could have spoken like that about him because they were socialists, Commissioner Borg said: “I would not say so. These are two members of the Development Committee which have the issue of family planning as part of their agenda. The president of the socialist group said positive things so I don’t think it is the case.”

On the actual approval, Commissioner Borg said it was quite plain sailing with only 18 members, out of more than 600, voting against while under 40 members abstained from voting. The number of MEPs who voted in favour was around 530. On a personal note, Dr Borg said he was glad to be serving on the European Commission, adding that during the first six months of his term, he will be focusing on the collegiality element of the Commission, on how the different commissioners could work together.

He said his new role on the Commission is very challenging. Admittedly, Dr Borg said, he was sorry he would no longer be in the local political arena but he added that this was a totally different role with more responsibility.

Professor Bonnici said it was an honour to have been approved by the European Parliament, and added that it will be a challenging position in the international arena. He said he was looking forward to contributing to the work of the European Court of Auditors.

Although he knows that he will be based in Luxembourg, Prof. Bonnici, when asked, said his new job had not yet been defined precisely.

“I have spoken to the court’s president and discussed the issue but I will have to wait for formal discussions with the Court to know exactly what I will be doing.

“I know I will be dealing with the European Union’s budget, which is around E100 billion every year, with collecting revenue and with monitoring how the union is spending its money,” he said.

As a member of the Court, Professor Bonnici needs to appoint a number of people as his staff and in view of this, he has already started conducting interviews. Asked whether there will be any Maltese people on his staff, Prof. Bonnici said it is usually suggested that not more than one person should hail from the same country as that of the member of the Court. This person, although not yet identified, has already been selected.

Asked what differences he is expecting between his term in the Maltese House of Representatives and his appointment to the European Court of Auditors, Prof. Bonnici said it is hard to tell in view of the fact that he has had no experience in his new job.

“I consider it quite an improvement in terms of my professional career. In terms of politics, this is something I will have to leave behind after 14 years on the scene. I predict that this will be the biggest change I will exerience”, he said.

Meanwhile, addressing the European Parliament yesterday, MEP John Attard Montalto spoke about the importance of flexibility in the decisions the European Union takes in the future, taking into consideration the effects of such decisions on small member states.

Dr Attard Montalto said the new commissioners had an important role to play, since they had several challenges ahead: employment, social inclusion and creation of wealth, for the economy of every country and its citizens.