Scicluna to be next European Commissioner

Finance minister Edward Scicluna, a former MEP, can be expected to pack his bags for a renewed sojourn in Brussels, this time as European Commissioner.

Scicluna, 67, is expected to be kicked upstairs to become Malta’s next Commissioner to replace Tonio Borg, who was appointed back in October 2012 as a replacement for John Dalli after the latter’s resignation.

MaltaToday has already reported that the finance ministry will probably be transferred to the Prime Minister’s office, to be captained by a parliamentary secretary.

That job would most likely fall under Edward Zammit Lewis, currently the parliamentary secretary for competitiveness under the economy ministry, led by Chris Cardona.

Government insiders have described the choice of Scicluna for finance minister as one of the “weak links” in Joseph Muscat’s large Cabinet of ministers. Reputed to be more of a theoretician and not much of a pragmatist, Scicluna had less influence over the operations in his ministry than his permanent secretary, Alfred Camilleri – the standing joke being that Camilleri was effectively the minister.

Camilleri was retained as permanent secretary when Labour was elected to power, one of only two top civil servants retained as head of their ministries since March 2013.

Scicluna’s posting in Brussels would be an inconsequential decision, since the commissioner’s role has little bearing or influence on decisions pertaining to Malta in the Council of Ministers, where the member states’ prime ministers take decision.

The move to place finance under the OPM is also reminiscent of the Gonzi administration, when Tonio Fenech served as parliamentary secretary for finance between 2004 and 2008. Fenech had just been elected to MP for the first time and given a Cabinet position, much like Edward Scicluna – who ran for MP for the first time in 2013, and Edward Zammit Lewis, who was elected for the first time in 2013.

Zammit Lewis, a lawyer and former classmate of Muscat at St Aloysius’ College, is considered to be close to the prime minster and shares his same zeal for expansionist economics.

In Brussels, Scicluna can expect a handsome €240,000 salary, commensurate enough for the job, and one which will match his expectations: he famously remarked that he was “insulted” at the salary a minister was paid.  His €20,278 a month salary will also be topped up with a residence allowance of 15% of the salary, €3,039 monthly.

Upon leaving office he can expect to be paid one month’s salary in the form of a resettlement allowance, and the three-year transitional allowance of over 50% of his salary.

Scicluna’s career would be nothing short of star-studded with this latest appointment. An Oxford graduate of politics and economics, he was appointed Professor and head of economics at the University of Malta, and later occupied numerous private and public posts: chairman of the Malta Council of Economic and Social Development (MCESD), chairman of the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), Electoral Commissioner, a director at the Central Bank, and a director on numerous private company boards.

He was a Labour MEP from 2009 onwards, elected to the Maltese parliament on both the fifth and eighth districts in 2013, and appointed minister of finance. He will be Malta’s fourth commissioner to be appointed to the EU’s executive.