Representatives from the European Commission and OLAF today applauded Malta’s EU funds management, Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer said.

“They confirmed that their experience working with Maltese authorities in this regard has been a positive one, while also noted that Malta has one of the lowest EU-fund error rates among Member States,” Engerer said shortly after a meeting of the CONT committee within the European Parliament, which was called after MEPs hailing from Metsola and Casa’s EPP alleged a “possible” misappropriation of EU funds in Malta.

Engerer slammed the meeting as "nothing more than an another orchestrated attempt by the Nationalist Party" to try divert the European Parliament’s attention towards our country. This could have easily denigrated Malta’s image in the EU fora, even though it was made crystal clear by these institutions that the allegations thrown by the Nationalist Party were absolutely baseless, Engerer said.

“It was of great satisfaction listening to OLAF and European Commission representatives state that Malta has not only got one of the lowest error rates in EU funding in the European Union, but has also given the highest amount of feedback and acted on 100% of the recommendations made by OLAF on the management of European Union funds throughout the years,” Engerer said.

Engerer concluded by saying that Maltese and Gozitan citizens are now fed up with Partit Nazzjonalista’s partisan attitude in the European Parliament.  He encouraged all to move away from partisan bickering and have a mature discussion on how best to use the record sum of European Union funds Malta managed to obtain for the upcoming budget, making sure that Maltese families and businesses get the most out of European Union membership.  He listed the environment and systems to encourage more work-life balance as his suggestions for EU funding projects in the next 7 years.

 

PN reaction

Reacting, the PN said it was a lie that it had worked for a discussion to take place at the EP on the management of European funds in Malta.

These technical discussions on all Member States, with the participation of OLAF and the European Commission, take place on a regular basis, it said,

The PL’s bubble had burst, so much so that it’s MEPs ended up ridiculing Malta, it said.

The PN said it was proud of the EU fund management system introduced in Malta when the country joined the EU.

“The MEPs today confirmed they have no idea how the EP works. They do not know the difference between a technical discussion and a political point.”

It would be better, it said, if the PL starts working for the benefit of the Maltese rather than use its MEPs to invent stories, it said.

The PN said that, through its MEPs David Casa and Roberta Metsola, it will continue to work so that Malta acquires more EU funds.