Maltese farmers are yet another of a series of victims of the Nationalist government’s deceit because of the impression it had given on the so-called safeguard clause, Labour Member of the European Parliament Joseph Muscat said during a plenary session debate on the integration of new member states in the Common Agricultural Policy.

Mr Muscat said that before membership in the European Union, the Maltese government gave these categories the impression that if during the first five years of membership they were to face problems because of the influx of foreign produce, it would have the right to stop such imports by means of the safeguard clause it negotiated. Labour had immediately expressed its reservations on this interpretation and explained that a safeguard clause could only be used in limited and exceptional circumstances.

Furthermore, the Maltese government would not be able to use this clause unilaterally but would need to apply to the European Commission, which would then take a final decision.

Now, the situation has changed, Mr Muscat said. Despite the continuous representations by farmers and their representatives, the Maltese government is saying that it has to apply to the commission for the use of the safeguard clause, and that at the moment there is no strong case to do that.

This is confirmed by an answer given by European Commissioner for Agriculture, Mariann Fischer Boel to a question by Joseph Muscat.

“This proves that Labour’s interpretation of the treaty was right,” Mr Muscat said.