Prime Minister Joseph Muscat claimed on Friday that the concept of responsibility sharing in terms of irregular migration was incorporated for the first time in the European Council’s conclusions at Friday’s summit of European leaders. Dr Muscat made this claim in comments to TVM news and the statement was corroborated by an official press release from the Office of the Prime Minister issued at the same time.

But Brussels sources quickly pointed out to this paper that the Prime Minister’s bold claim was totally incorrect since the term “responsibility sharing” has been included in EU Summit conclusions since 2004 – the very year in which Malta became an EU member.

The first time the term was used was in the December 2004 council meeting. The summit conclusions said the development of a common policy in the field of asylum, migration and borders should be based “on solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility”. In December 2006, EU leaders agreed that the European migration policy is based on the solidarity, mutual trust and shared responsibility of the European Union and its Member States.

The same wording was used in the June 2007, June 2009 and October 2009. Funnily enough, the term “fair sharing of responsibility” was also used at the October 2013 Summit, which Joseph Muscat attended.

Similarly to what happened on at least six occasions during the past 10 years, the term was used again at this week’s Council meeting. Article 5 of the Summit conclusions reads: “Faced with challenges such as instability in many parts of the world as well as global and European demographic trends, the Union needs an efficient and well-managed migration, asylum and borders policy, guided by the Treaty principles of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility, in accordance with Article 80 TFEU and its effective implementation.” And Article 7 says that the EU’s commitment to international protection requires a strong European asylum policy based on solidarity and responsibility.

The same sources who pointed out the Prime Minister’s error asked how Dr Muscat could make such a claim when the term “responsibility sharing” was used in at least one of the summits he attended. And, besides, Dr Muscat was accompanied by other officials who have worked in Brussels for a good number of years and attended numerous European Council meetings. These officials should have known that the Prime Minister was wrong.

“Was the Prime Minister trying to bluff or did he really not realise he was mistaken?” our sources asked. After the Prime Minister’s gaffe further questions have arisen over the fact that no media houses – apart from PBS – were invited to cover the summit. Despite the fact that journalists attending EU summits have minimum contact with the Prime Minister, a question and answer session is usually held at the end of the event, giving reporters the chance to ask questions or ask for clarifications. This time round, however, only the government friendly PBS covered the event, while the Department of Information sent out the relevant press release and photos.