Government ‘jumped the gun’ on Delimara infringement notice – EC official

The Maltese government appears to have “jumped the gun” in announcing last Saturday that the European Commission will be closing its infringement procedures on the Delimara power station extension procurement, according to a highly-placed European Commission official.

Speaking to MaltaToday from Brussels, a senior official within Commissioner Michel Barnier’s cabinet said that “the contacts were informal and at DG level, so we don’t know how such a statement was made.”

The official was referring to the government’s announcement last Saturday that Barnier would be moving the closure of infringement procedures to the College of Commissioners for finalisation.

The official said: “There may have been informal contacts at that level, and some talk about the Commission being satisfied with the replies given by the Maltese government, but there still are several hoops to go through which will not be over before mid next year. It looks like the government has jumped the gun.”

“A final decision will eventually be taken within the College of Commissioners, and as far as this office is concerned, the Malta matter is still being dealt with.”

The EC was investigating whether the Maltese government’s change in emission laws at the last minute had favoured BWSC, the winning tenderer, over Israeli tenderer Bateman’s cheaper gas technology.

The European Commission’s official’s statement comes in clear contrast to last Saturday’s Department of Information statement, which categorically stated that “after conducting a thorough analysis the European Commission found no violation of EU rules and the Commission will formally propose to the College of Commissioners that these infringement proceedings against Malta be closed.”