Money is not the only important thing, Brussels tells Malta
EU confirms net beneficiary status
The EU's outgoing Budget Commissioner has fired an indirect broadside at Malta's Labour Party, saying that EU membership is "not just a matter of money".
Dalia Grybauskaite, who will leave her post to become Lithuania's President, made the comment after Labour leader Joseph Muscat and newly-elected MEP Edward Scicluna had said Malta was paying more towards the EU than it was receiving.
In a reply to a parliamentary question by Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil, Ms Grybauskaite said that Labour's declarations were wrong and that Malta was in fact a net beneficiary.
The European Commission also said there is "no issue" as to whether Malta is a net beneficiary of EU funds. Following Labour's claims, Dr Busuttil had asked the Commission to state the actual situation in relation to funds allocated to Malta since its EU accession.
"According to our accounting records, Malta results to be a net beneficiary," the EU executive said.
The Commissioner said that according to the Commission's latest 'EU budget - Financial report' covering the period up to the year 2007, Malta had maintained a positive operating budgetary balance from its EU accession, with + 1.01 per cent of gross national income (€45 million in absolute terms) in 2004, + 1.98 per cent of GNI (€ 90 million) in 2005, + 2.09 per cent of GNI (€101 million) in 2006 and + 0.54 per cent of GNI (€28.1 million) in 2007.
A Commission spokesman told The Sunday Times that although the 2008 accounts had not yet been finalised, "Malta is still expected to have ended 2008 receiving more funds than contributing towards the EU budget".
In what can be interpreted as a direct criticism of Malta's money-driven mentality, the Budget Commissioner pointed out to Dr Busuttil that EU payments were not the only gain to be taken into consideraton when analysing the benefits received by member states through their EU accession.
"Allocating EU budget expenditure by member state is merely an accounting exercise that gives a very limited view of the benefits that each member state derives from the Union," Ms Grybauskaite said.
In 2005, the EU allocated a total of €855 million to Malta to be used during the 2007 to 2013 financial period.