This is unacceptable, Mr Bartolo said. The agenda for the meeting was issued on 30 April and it was only half-an-hour before the meeting began that the chairman, Jason Azzopardi, was informed that John Dalli would not be present. How can the committee discuss anything if Mr Dalli is not present, Mr Bartolo asked.

This was an inauspicious beginning to the meeting, especially when Mr Bartolo admitted he was sorely tempted to get up and walk out.

The other Labour MP present on the committee, Leo Brincat, agreed with Mr Bartolo. The chairman could only reply he was taking note of these complaints and that this should not have happened.

Fresh into his appointment, Dr Azzopardi then explained to the committee what he has been trying to do over the past four weeks.

The first thing he did was to get Parliament to subscribe to the specialist magazine Foreign Affairs Review, hopefully this being the first in what should become a specialised library.

His next duty was to press for staff to be appointed to the committee. The previous day, at the House Business Committeee, the Speaker had referred to this thorny issue and announced that the salary scales had been improved. He explained that this was the last hurdle to overcome before people could be persuaded to leave secure employment at the Foreign Ministry and join the committee.

Dr Azzopardi explained how he, the Speaker and Mr Bartolo had interviewed four of the six people whose CVs had been presented to the committee by the Foreign Ministry.

The results of the interviews had yielded two people who could be recruited as research analysts – Dr Louise Farrugia and Joseph Camilleri – and, now that the issue of the new salary scales has been resolved, they will be joining the committee.

Dr Azzopardi urged committee members to come up with more names, especially on the economic side.

This committee is the result of an agreement reached by the government and the opposition prior to the ratification of Malta’s Accession Treaty to the EU last year. It is a very important committee as it is charged with exercising scrutiny of all legislation being prepared by the EU prior to its enactment.

All legislative proposals by the European Commission are to be sent by the Maltese representative to the commission of the line ministries involved. These will then notify the committee which will discuss the draft directives (at least the most important). These draft directives may also be referred to the Social Affairs Committee. An exploratory memorandum will then be drawn up by the Foreign Ministry as well as an impact assessment study. After all this, the government would know what position it will adopt on each issue.

In preparation for this role, the MPs who are members of this committee are going to the UK on Tuesday to see how the House of Commons Scrutiny Committee works. They will also try to meet the Foreign Affairs Committee and hopefully be present at Prime Minister’s Question Time.

The members were also presented with a study by Josanne Bonello, the secretary of the committee,and Deputy Clerk of the House, as to how Ireland, Luxembourg and Portugal exercise scrutiny of the forthcoming EU legislation.

The committee will not neglect its foreign affairs side: it is due to visit the US Congress and China next year.

Dr Azzopardi said a long series of lectures will be given to committee members by Dr Stephen Calleya, Professor Salvo Ando and Dr Roderick Pace.

Mr Brincat urged for an immediate meeting to discuss the situation in the Middle East and suggested that the ambassadors of Palestinian and for Israel be asked to deliver separate presentations to the committee. Dr Azzopardi agreed to this suggestion.

Mr Brincat also suggested an urgent meeting on relations between Malta and Libya in view of the ongoing developments in the relationship, not just as regards the visa regime but also because of the fear that with Libya opening up to other countries, Malta’s role as a privileged interlocutor will be sidelined (or Malta turned into a flyover, rather than a bridge, as Mr Bartolo succinctly put it).

Mr Brincat said that while he had no objection to Prof. Ando, Malta’s neutrality must not be diluted.

Mr Bartolo urged recruiting people from the Central Bank or former MDC employees as research analysts while fellow-member Mario de Marco urged recruiting people from the legal field.

Mr Bartolo suggested creating more synergies with MIC and MEUSAC but he also insisted that the committee must not base its decisions solely on what the ministers tell it. The committee must be able to carry out its own studies in the relevant matters.

Dr de Marco suggested that as Malta had lost out to Alexandria in Egypt to host the Mediterranean Foundation, it should work hard to get the Euro-Med Parliamentary Assembly to Malta.