Malta has been given the go-ahead to apply for funding for a proposed gas pipeline, following an agreement between the European Parliament, Commission and Council.
The funding, however, is said to ensure a fool-proof system preventing these funds from benefitting criminal activity, Times of Malta reported. Electrogas shareholders and other consortia will be prevented from benefitting from the pipeline funding, it also reported.
Despite the go-ahead to apply, it is not yet guaranteed that the Commission will agree to it.
The son of murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, Matthew, said that his family's position remains the same, maintaining his stance against the funding for the pipeline as it would entail that the funds will indeed benefit Electrogas - particularly shareholder Yorgen Fenech, who is currently accused of his involvement in his mother's murder. A multi-million undisclosed compensation payment would be set in motion to Electrogas that operates Malta's gas power station, should the funding for the pipeline commence, it has been reported.
Tom Berendsen, the MEP who negotiated the new EU rules for the Malta pipeline on behalf of the EPP Group, said: "I insisted throughout that criminals must not benefit in any way from this derogation. It is essential that the EU is able to ensure that no funds go to criminals and that this project is not abused to allow funding to go to criminals. I'm particularly happy that we managed to achieve this because it is not right that these fraudsters and criminals are rewarded with taxpayers' money. EU governments benefitting from a derogation, like Malta, have to make sure that criminals do not directly or indirectly benefit from EU funds. This is a legal safeguard which we will continue defending politically as part of our rule of law campaign. Values are not for sale. We must shut the door completely on these people. I also want to take this opportunity, to pay tribute to assassinated investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and how important it is for justice to be done for the stories she exposed."
Energy Minister Miriam Dalli was in favour of the gas pipeline project in a letter addressed to MEPs, failing to mention any corruption concerns which could arise regarding the power station.
The PN had called on the government to scrap its contract with Electrogas, saying that failing to do so would be putting Malta's EU funding at risk. The party had continued that a government led by PN leader Bernard Grech will do everything in its power to clean Malta's energy, scrapping a contract which is "tainted in corruption and blood."