A report by Spanish experts commissioned by the Budget Control Committee of the European Parliament is reported to have claimed that Malta is the country which used the least of EU funds allocated to it.
Even Poland, which spent only 27 per cent of the EU help, did better than Malta, a report on the Polish pulsbiznesu.pl website said.
And Bulgaria and Romania are reported to be doing better. The EU average is 48 per cent.
In general, the report states that the take-up of EU funds was better in 2006 than it was in 2004 and 2005.
As the main reasons for non-absorption of funds, the report blames lack of qualified personnel and their mobility. It suggests that the staff dealing with the absorption should not only be more numerous, but also better paid, so that professionals would not quit their jobs.
Last week, maltastar.com reported that up to three ministries have lost millions of euros in EU funds because they did not submit their applications in time on Friday 7 September at noon. The ministries are: Employment and Education Ministry, Competitiveness and Consumer Affairs Ministry and the Tourism Ministry.
Informed sources were reported to have told maltastar.com that there were some 17 applications from various ministries that were not submitted in time.
The Director General in charge of EU funds did not confirm which projects did not make it in time and which ministries failed the deadline. Nor has any official denial been issued
The Tourism Ministry submitted an application of EUR10 million, 40 minutes late, which makes it ineligible for the funds.
The incident led to an internal investigation to establish the cause for such a delay. The money was meant to fund the Malta Tourism Authority marketing and branding campaigns. As a result, two top employees are on forced leave.
The money is intended to pay part of the EUR21 million marketing agreement with Media Consulta.
It is not yet known whether the other ministries have taken such drastic steps with employees who failed to submit the application for EU funding in time.