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Matthew Vella
MaltaToday’s request for access to the financial accounts of Malta’s five MEPs has been referred to the European Parliament’s Bureau, which will be meeting on the 12 October, after its request for the documents to be disclosed was refused by the secretary-general of the European Parliament, Julian Priestley.
Subsequently, the newspaper submitted a confirmatory application asking the general secretariat in Luxembourg to reconsider its position.
The 20-person bureau takes care of financial, organisational and administrative decisions concerning MEPs and the organisation of the parliament and its bodies.
Its composition is mainly made up of socialist and European People’s Party MEPs, including the President of the European Parliament Josep Borrell Fontelles. There is just one member each from the greens, the liberals, and the communists.
MaltaToday had asked all five MEPs to present their statements of account for their first year in Brussels back in July.
Only one MEP, Joseph Muscat, answered, stating that expenditure, including wages and salaries, will be “independently audited and duly published”.
Muscat said he was “complying fully” with all European Parliament reporting regulations and requirements.
MaltaToday asked MEPs to disclose all items of financial expenditure for their office which earns them well over Lm40,000 a year, making them amongst the highest-paid Maltese individuals today.
Priestley had said the accounts for Malta MEPs cannot be disclosed on the grounds of data protection, which “would undermine the protection of … privacy and the integrity of the individual.”
That means any information in reference to an MEP’s economic status, as a third party, cannot be disclosed by the institutions.
mvella@mediatoday.com.mt
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