The search for European Commissioner: Abela’s conundrum

There is anticipation within government circles that Robert Abela may nominate his former head of secretariat Glenn Micallef as Malta’s next European commissioner despite misgivings. 

The Prime Minister has been sounding out various names for the post, a senior government official, who asked to remain anonymous like others quoted in this report, told MaltaToday. 

“Glenn Micallef’s resignation from head of secretariat at the Office of the Prime Minister and his request to return back to Brussels have made his nomination all the more likely although there are misgivings because he never occupied a ministerial role,” the official said. 

The source said ministers Miriam Dalli, Clyde Caruana and Ian Borg, who at some stage were being considered as potential nominees, have indicated they are not interested in the post. 

But Abela has been mulling other names as well, another government source said. “The names of [Labour MEP election candidate] Steve Ellul and [Culture Minister] Owen Bonnici have also been whispered in the corridors at Castille as possible nominees for the post of European Commissioner,” the source noted. 

“The only sure thing at this stage is that the Prime Minister has not yet made up his mind despite this being an imminent decision,” they added. 

After EU leaders agreed last Thursday that Ursula von der Leyen should serve a second term as European Commission president, she will have to be approved by the European Parliament in a vote expected to be held on 18 July. Afterwards each member state has to nominate one European Commissioner, who would then undergo a grilling at the hands of MEPs after the summer months. 

Malta’s first choice for commissioner, Chris Fearne, dropped out of the race last month when criminal charges were filed against him over the Vitals corruption case. With Fearne pulling out, Abela was left with a vacuum to fill and although Dalli represented the ideal choice, given her experience as an MEP and minister, she took a step back. 

The technocrat with no ministerial experience 

Glenn Micallef worked at Malta’s representation in Brussels as a European policy advisor before taking up the OPM post in November 2020. Micallef had also served as head of the EU secretariat in the Foreign Ministry. 

Micallef’s technocratic roles have given him insight into how EU institutions work and the negotiating process involved to pass European legislation. The position of head of secretariat in the OPM also put him in touch with all key government decisions on a day-to-day basis. 

Nonetheless, the fact that he has no ministerial experience and was never an elected official could be a stumbling block for the post of European Commissioner. Nominees face a tough grilling process at the hands of MEPs, some with years of political experience. 

“Robert Abela is sounding out various people to see what they think of a possible Glenn [Micallef] nomination, which in itself shows that he is not 100% certain of the choice,” another source said. 

In a resignation note on Facebook, Micallef suggested that his departure from the OPM role had been pre-agreed with the Prime Minister in what was a photocopy reaction to that of Labour Party deputy leader for party affairs Daniel Micallef, who is also stepping down. 

When Daniel Micallef announced his resignation after the European election, he insisted the decision was taken two years ago but agreed to postpone it until after the European election. 

The toxic Muscat legacy 

Another name that has been doing the rounds is that of Owen Bonnici, who is one of the veteran Labour MPs despite his relatively young age, having first been elected to parliament in 2008. 

But unlike Glenn Micallef, Bonnici’s political career is tied to the Joseph Muscat legacy, a factor that can cause him problems with MEPs if he is Malta’s nominee for commissioner. 

Bonnici could be expected to face flak over the orders he had given as justice minister prior to 2020 to have the Daphne Caruana Galizia makeshift memorial outside the law courts cleared from flowers. 

In 2020, the Constitutional Court found that Bonnici had breached protestors’ human rights when giving those orders. 

It was Abela, upon becoming Prime Minister in 2020, who put a stop to the charade that would see government workers at the dead of night clear the memorial from flowers, candles and messages. In December 2021, Bonnici apologised for his actions in a newspaper interview. 

Labour and PM’s quandary 

But the dilemma on who to nominate as European Commissoner is probably the easiest to solve in the wake of the dismal European election result. 

The Prime Minister is caught in a quandary on how to react to the result that saw the PL lose its supermajority, according to several sources in the Labour Party.  

After the result, Abela blamed civil servants in cushy jobs for putting spokes in governments wheel, a comment rebuffed by the country’s two biggest trade unions – the UĦM and the GWU. He also floated the possibility of revisiting the abortion law. 

But so far, Abela has avoided addressing the elephant in the room – what to do with former prime minister Joseph Muscat after a court ruled there was enough prima facie evidence to issue a bill of indictment on corruption charges in the Vitals case. 

So far, apart from platitudes on the need to listen to the voters’ message, the only tangible outcomes after the election have been Daniel Micallef’s decision to step down and Glenn Micallef’s resignation as head of secretariat and his immediate replacement with Mark Mallia. 

Another conundrum facing the party is the position of Chris Fearne as deputy leader parliamentary affairs. Although Fearne resigned from Cabinet after he was charged in the Vitals case, he stayed on as deputy leader. 

Effectively, government has no deputy prime minister and with the Vitals case expected to drag on, the PL could be left stuttering with a deputy leader who cannot carry out his political functions. 

Abela handed Owen Bonnici the role of leader of the House alongside his ministerial portfolio after Fearne resigned from Cabinet. The role is normally occupied by the deputy prime minister. But other than this minor decision, nobody in the party, not least the Prime Minister, has dared raise the issue concerning Fearne’s future.