Pro-EU Vella was absent from 2003 vote on EU bill

European Commissioner-designate Karmenu Vella has declared he voted against his party’s policy in favour of Malta’s accession to the European Union in 2003, a claim he has made in a questionnaire drawn up for MEPs ahead of a grilling on his suitability for commissioner.

Having absented himself from the European debate in 2002-2003, when Labour leader Alfred Sant campaigned against EU membership, Vella wants to convince MEPs of his European credentials.

In a questionnaire he answered for the European Parliament, as part of his grilling tomorrow by MEPs on his appointment as Commissioner, the former Labour minister describes himself as “a convinced European”.

“I am a convinced European, having voted for my country’s accession and, more recently, as a minister in a pro-European government led by a former member of the European Parliament,” Vella tells the EP.

In the 2003 referendum, Malta voted in favour of joining the European Union. The then Malta Labour Party, under Alfred Sant’s leadership – today a Labour MEP – rejected the result in which 53.6 per cent voted yes and 46.4 per cent voted no.

However, when the House of Representatives ratified the EU accession treaty, Vella did not attend the sitting of 14 July, 2003 to commit his vote to public record.

The historic vote on the European Union bill had to be taken three times, at the beginning and twice at the end of the sitting, after the Opposition called a division.

The bill was approved with 34 government votes in favour and 25 opposition votes against. Missing from the Opposition benches were Opposition leader Alfred Sant, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, Joe Debono Grech, Anglu Farrugia and Karmenu Vella.

The vote sealed the 24-year debate on EU membership which culminated in the EU referendum on 8 March, 2003 and the general election on 12 April which the PN won.

Legally, it cleared the way for Malta to join the European Union on May 1 next year along with nine other accession countries.

The European Union bill also included an amendment to introduce the European Union in the Constitution. Since the amendment to the Constitution needed the support of the majority of all MPs, as against a majority of MPs present and voting, approval of the bill needed the support of at least 33 MPs. MPs were asked to stand to declare their vote.

Deputy Opposition leader Charles Mangion said Labour leader Alfred Sant and the four other MPs had been absent from the vote for “personal reasons”.

Vella was by then, largely absent from the Labour front bench, focused mainly on his directorship in the Corinthia Group. He only returned to a visible role after 2008, when Joseph Muscat became leader.

This absence, and the lack of antagonism against him during the EU debate, sheltered him from public opprobrium. In 2002, he ignored a party boycott of production house Where’s Everybody – accused by Sant of leading a pro-government agenda on the EU – and took telephone calls at the charity telethon Strina together with Labour MP Louis Buhagiar. L-iStrina was then produced by the Where’s Everybody team.

“Throughout my political life I have been guided by the same values and principles, which I would consider fundamentally European: the principles of democracy, solidarity, of equality between men and women, human dignity and non-discrimination, and the social market economy,” Vella has told MEPs.

Having been an MP for some 40 years, Vella has also held several positions in government, including minister for public works, industry, and tourism.

He held several directorships and senior management positions in the public and private business sectors, including with companies operating in the banking, hospitality and travel industries.

Transparency watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory has however flagged his business interests. “It is inappropriate to nominate as a European commissioner a serving politician who has had such recent links to big business,” it said of Vella’s chairmanship with Orange Travel Group and a previous directorship with Betfair, which he held before his appointment as minister for tourism in 2013.

Vella was awarded the environment, maritime affairs and fisheries portfolio by EC president Jean-Claude Juncker.

With his grilling set for tomorrow, Vella can expect tough questioning after he was entrusted with carrying out an in-depth evaluation of the Birds Directive, among others.

His main responsibility will be to further develop the green growth approach to environment policy to improve environmental protection, safeguard human health and contribute to economic growth with the least regulatory burden.

“The Habitats and Birds Directives are at the core of our EU biodiversity policy. I am committed to ensuring that the ongoing Fitness Check in this area provides a thorough, transparent and evidence based evaluation which will allow us to assess the potential for merging them into a more modern piece of legislation,” Vella said in the nine-page questionnaire.