A group of NGOs have condemned the government's "secret decision" to shift European Union funds from the electrification of public buses to private cars, and said that it has not been communicated with or approved by the European Commission.
In December, the Nationalist Party had said that the government had withdrawn European funds earmarked to replace over 100 diesel buses with electric ones, aiming to reduce air pollution and emissions. The project, agreed upon by the Government and the European Commission, was valued at €34 million from EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funds. It was later reported that, instead, the funds that were originally meant to go towards the electrification of the bus fleet were injected into the incentives given to those who choose to purchase an electric vehicle.
Environmental NGOs Friends of the Earth Malta, Moviment Graffitti and Rota, in a statement encouraged people to speak up and sign the parliamentary petition to demand a democratic discussion on this proposed shift of public funding from public to private transport, they said in a statement.
"In December 2024, news was shared about the government's secret decision to ditch plans to use EU funding to electrify part of the public transport fleet. Instead, they propose to use these funds to continue providing subsidies for purchasing private electric cars, even though the approved funding plans already includes a budget of €60 million for the purchase of zero-emission electric vehicles for the public and private sector. The electrification of buses was one of the measures under the approved Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) Plan proposed by Malta and accepted by the European Commission."
The RRF funds were made available by the European Commission to help EU economies emerge stronger and more resilient from the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and promote the green transition, the NGOs said.
Friends of the Earth Malta, Moviment Graffitti and Rota, "are deeply concerned about this proposed change in use of funding. The scope, aims and impact of the two measures are not the same."
Electrifying the bus fleet is an investment in public transport that benefits the entire country and its citizens, the NGOs said. "It would impact wider communities and reduce the gap in mobility, social and environmental inequalities. The modern electric buses would replace older Euro 5 Diesel buses, and would remain part of the public transport fleet, even if the current operator would not win the next tender procedure. The funding would upgrade our public transport system, by improving the service or could even be used to make a start with a Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system."
On the other hand, the subsidies for private electric cars are mainly benefitting people who are better off, causing further inequalities, and further incentivising private car purchasing and use, they said.
"Malta already has severe problems with car dependence, take up of public space, traffic and parking issues, and road accidents. Furthermore, 60 more cars are being added to the road each day. This has been recognized as well by the European Commission itself. Recently, during the Recovery and Resilience Plan Annual Event held in November 2024 in Valletta, Maria Teresa Fabregas, Director of Recovery and Resilience at the European Commission, stressed that Malta's car dependence is extremely worrying and is jeopardising Malta's ability to reach its climate targets, as the country's carbon emissions are growing instead of being reduced. Malta's RRF plan was drafted following a public consultation process and lengthy negotiations with the European Commission. Despite information shared in the news article claiming there was 'correspondence with the European Commission' about the proposed change in use of funding, in December 2024, the European Commission Representation in Malta stated that Malta had not yet submitted an amendment request to the European Commission," the statement read.
Amendments to the Recovery and Resilience Plans are governed by Article 21 of Regulation (EU) 2021/241 , requiring the Member State to submit a formal request with an argument that relevant milestones and targets are no longer achievable, the NGOs said.
"The Commission will then take a decision: for approval, if they consider the reasons put forward by the Member State are justified; or rejection, if they consider that the reasons put forward are not justified. There is a clear procedure for making changes to the proposed use of the Recovery and Resilience Facility funds; this is not something that a Member State can just decide to change on a whim, in secret. We are left wondering about the true intentions of this proposed change in funding. Is this truly serving the country and its residents, or is it the result of strong lobbying by the car importing industry? We invite citizens and residents of Malta to sign this parliamentary petition at https://parlament.mt/en/petition?id=253, to demand reverting this decision, to ensure that public funds are spent on public transport, and that the use of EU funds is governed in a transparent way, with opportunity for citizen participation, and benefitting all citizens and residents of Malta."