Maltese officials in EU institutions have raised objections after a Latvian national landed a job at the EU Commission Representation in Valletta, despite a job requirement stipulating applicants must have good command of Maltese.
Sources say the appointment is among a series of instances where qualified and experienced Maltese candidates eligible for high-position jobs with EU institutions are being sidelined.
Latvian economist Martins Zemitis is expected to start his new job in Malta in September, after he beat at least three Maltese nationals to the post, all of whom were reportedly qualified for the job and one of whom had already served in the same role for seven years.
In a reply to a parliamentary question by MEP Alex Agius Saliba, the European Commission defended its decision, saying Zemitis fulfilled a mix of the required criteria in the best way and that he will be doing his job in Malta in English anyway.
The applicants were competing to take on the role of European Semester Officer in the Maltese Representation of the EU Commission. The role is to ensure the country lives up to the EU’s economic targets while liaising with local stakeholders and authorities and EU institutions.
Apart from a high-level economic knowledge and good experience of the commission’s practices and policies, the job vacancy notice also said the chosen applicant “must have a good command of Maltese and a very good knowledge of English. In-depth knowledge of the Maltese legal and administrative system will be an asset”.
Zemitis, who serves as deputy head of the European Commission Representation in Latvia, is a Stanford University graduate, worked in several high-level institutions in Latvia and holds all necessary qualifications to take the job.
But, according to several sources, he knows no Maltese and hardly has in-depth knowledge of the Maltese legal and administrative system.
Officials close to the European Commission said the ability to communicate in the native language and understand the peculiarities of the country and its culture are fundamental to the effective execution of the job and that is why the commission requires applicants have a good command of the native language.
The post was created after the 2008 economic crisis, partly to help the EU have an on-the-ground grasp of individual national economies. Malta employs two officials in this post.
The posts have previously always been held by Maltese nationals and Maltese EU officials say, in almost all other EU states, the role is filled by a national of that country.
“In France, for example, non-French people with very fluent French apply and are qualified for the job. But they will still choose the French candidate,” one source said.
MEP Agius Saliba told Times of Malta he asked what will happen when the stakeholders can only speak in Maltese.
Agius Saliba tabled a question in the European Parliament in May but, in its reply, the commission was vague and would not confirm whether Zemitis can speak Maltese.
It replied that, while the vacancy notice mentioned a good command of Maltese as one of the relevant criteria, both the analytical work and the discussions with the Maltese authorities take place in English.
“The candidate selected fulfilled the mix of required expertise and qualifications in the best way.”
Agius Saliba said the commission’s reply is an insult for Malta.
“Maltese people are being treated like second-class citizens and they are being told the Maltese language is not as important as any other EU language,” Agius Saliba said.
“Would the commission have put a Latvian who doesn’t know a word in French or German in one of their offices?”
Nationalist MEP David Casa also raised concerns.
“There are very clear benefits to having a Maltese national occupy such a role, not least because a national from a different member state cannot be fully knowledgeable on the cultural aspects and peculiarities of Malta.”
He said very qualified Maltese nationals could have filled such a post and the decision to appoint someone who is not Maltese is difficult to understand and should not have happened.
Questions were sent to the European Commission and efforts to contact Zemitis were unsuccessful.