Dr Gonzi welcomed the Euro-parliamentarians and gave all of them his best wishes, saying that they had important work ahead of them that would affect the whole country.

Apart from the work that awaited them in the next five years in the European Parliament, Dr Gonzi pointed out that they will be the first to work in the recently legislated European Affairs Committee, whose members, among other things, will be responsible for reporting developments occurring in the EP directly to the local parliament.

Dr Simon Busuttil, speaking on behalf of the government’s parliamentarians, said that the

collaborative approach that all members had taken so far, and their joint appearance in the media the day before, sent a positive message to the Maltese in general.

“People expect us to work together in the interest of the whole country,” he said. “It is our responsibility to meet these expectations.” He mentioned the discussions being carried out vis a vis the committees on which each of them will be working. In total, there are 20 committees in the EP and the local Euro-parliamentarians can only participate in 10, so it is vital that their participation in committees be coordinated in order to avoid duplication of participation.

Speaking for the MLP MEPs, Dr John Attard Montalto said that before “we become Labourites or Nationalists we are born Maltese,” adding that this is what the MEPs had to keep in mind in their work at the EP.

Hopefully, this sort of work practice will be reflected in the local parliament, said Dr Attard Montalto.