Envoy to EU lost at key time

The resignation of Richard Cachia Caruana was met with surprise and disbelief at the weekly meeting of the EU’s Permanent Representatives in Brussels, which was preparing for next week’s crucial summit meeting.

Attending one of his last meetings in his capacity as dean of the 27 most powerful national envoys in the EU capital – a position Mr Cachia Caruana held as the longest serving permanent representative among the ambassadorial group – many of his colleagues departed from their diplomatic protocol and quizzed him about the reasons for his abrupt exit and its timing.

“Although it is normal for member states to change their permanent representatives every few years, they are normally very careful to choose the right moment. This is definitely not the right time to change your main diplomat in Brussels,” a senior official from the EU’s Council Secretariat said.

In the coming six months, Malta will be going through one of the most sensitive and toughest negotiating periods with Brussels and a mistake or misjudgement might literally cost the islands millions of euros.

Apart from negotiations on the approval of Air Malta’s €230 million state aid case – expected to be wrapped up in a few weeks’ time – Malta has an uphill struggle to keep its current status as Objective 1 beneficiary of EU funds.

The final phase of negotiations on the EU’s next seven-year budget – 2014 to 2020 – is expected to be concluded by the end of this year and the fine details will start being discussed under the Cypriot presidency, which takes over in July.

The European Commission has already anticipated that Malta may not remain eligible for all the funds reserved for member states that are most in need due to its rapid economic progress in recent years.

The Maltese permanent representation in Brussels and the government have started a diplomatic battle on the issue, insisting that Malta should be compensated for the statistical imbalance it suffered following the accession of two poor countries – Bulgaria and Romania – that tipped the EU’s statistics to the island’s disadvantage.

Mr Cachia Caruana himself is involved in the Friends of the Cohesion Policy Group, an ad hoc committee of permanent representatives from the net beneficiary member states that are opposing pressure from the large member states and net contributors to freeze the EU budget.

“As usual, the negotiations on the financial framework (EU budget) will be hard and all member states will use their best brains and negotiating skills to get the best possible results.

“A new permanent representative will need at least six months to adapt to Brussels’s bureaucracy and will have to start rebuilding important contacts from scratch. No member state will change its permanent representative at the end of these negotiations,” a diplomat from one of the largest EU member states said.

Apart from the budget haggling, with negotiations expected to go down to the wire, Malta also has a number of other sensitive issues that will be coming on stream in just a few weeks.

These include the conclusions of a new common European asylum system – to be negotiated by the end of 2012; the debate on the proposed financial transaction tax – which Malta is vehemently opposed to; a new rule book for the online gaming industry, and the negotiations on the future of the Common Agriculture Policy.

‘No other MPs’ supported motion

The PN said last night it had a signed declaration by 33 of its MPs saying they had no intention to vote for the opposition’s motion calling for the resignation of Richard Cachia Caruana. It asked Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando to substantiate his claim there were up to 10 Nationalist MPs who had wished to back the motion. Dr Pullicino Orlando, however, stood by his claim, saying he even had SMSs from MPs but would not publish them.