Finance ministry admits EU communication over budget

The Finance Ministry today said it received communication from the European Commission asking for further information related to the Draft Budget 2015 submitted by Malta on 15 October 2014.

 “This procedure is normal practice according to new regulations under the two-pack system introduced for the first time last year. A similar request was received last year,” the ministry said.

 This comes after government’s denial of reports on the Commission’s doubts on Malta’s proposed budget which appeared in the international press, including the influential Financial Times.

Yesterday, government said that it had “no indication” that the European Commission considered Malta's budget plans as being at risk of breaching EU budget rules, however in a statement issued today it admitted that it received communication.

“The ministry will provide the information requested and is confident that the process will be concluded positively,” the ministry said today.

The Financial Times had reported that five countries countries - France, Italy, Austria, Slovenia and Malta, would be warned by the European Commission that their draft budgets risk breaching EU budget rules.