The government is in the final stages of informal discussions with the European Commission before the national plan for recovery and resilience is submitted, the parliamentary secretariat for European Funds said in a statement.

The plan includes details on how the government is envisioning spending the €320 or so million in grants which have been allocated to the country – investments which will strengthen the economy through, amongst others, investments in the green economy, digital transition, health, education, and governance.

The secretariat said that it is absolutely not true that there is some sort of political consequence or otherwise related to the submission of the plan by 30 April.

The Commission themselves, the secretariat said, confirmed that this was simply an orientation date and not a deadline, and that member states can still submit their plans.

In fact, they said, only 8 countries had submitted their recovery plan, while the others are at a similar stage as Malta.

The informal discussions taking place are being done with the intention of being able to hit the ground running once the plan is submitted and approved.

The plan will be presented in Parliament once the technical discussions related to it are completed.