Vague replies raise questions as to whether Vella will be fighter for the environment

Vague. Imprecise. Sometimes fluffing up an answer right after a question demanding him to be “concrete”. Karmenu Vella, commissioner-designate for the environment, fisheries and maritime policy, endured a gruelling three-hour grilling from MEPs with a kind of provincial sincerity that may fail to impress politicians who demand political courage and some scientific nous.

It was a question by the veteran Green MEP Claude Turmes, of Luxembourg, that encapsulated the fears of the environmental lobby. Was Vella just doing the bidding for the pro-business Jean-Claude Juncker, or did he really have the courage to stand up for the environment.

“I have heard that you have been instructed by president-elect Juncker not to commit to any new legislative initiatives today,” he said. “We need somebody who commits here to concrete legislation. Otherwise how can we have any insurance that you are the right person to do this job?”

To Vella – a former tourism minister who was of recent more associated with his role in the private tourism sector – being a ‘fighting’ or ‘aggressive’ commissioner for the environment was not necessary.

“I do not have any such instructions, but I will not give any commitment,” Vella replied. “I am sure Claude you will understand that this is a new commission, we have to take stock of what is left… When any new government takes over, it is only natural that it takes stock of the situation.”

And he added, “this is not about a fight between ‘economists’ and ‘ecologists’. We have to change this. If we are planning any economic policies for the future, then we have to make sure that the environment is part and parcel of that as well,” he said.

But the press latched on to Vella’s suggestion that his role was to ensure sustainable growth, sustainable fisheries, sustainable economy, sustainable development and sustainable this-and-that would be on the agenda of his other commissioner-colleagues.

No sooner had Vella failed to deliver on the “concrete” answers he was called on to give, word in the Brussels corridor outside the committee room was that the Greens would force a vote on Vella – even though Vella’s nomination was a fait accompli in the reality of political horse-trading of the dominant socialists and popular party MEPs.

Vella took issue with suggestions that he wanted to weaken biodiversity rules. He was not about to deregulate laws, only review them – he told MEPs – making them “more efficient”, taking laws such as the Birds Directive, in place since 1979, reflect the over 30 decisions from the European Court of Justice that today are used to interpret the body of law.

He put forward a bold stand on poaching in Malta and wildlife regulation on the island he hails from. The first question from MEPs concerned Malta’s violation of the Birds and Habitats directive he was supposed to be reviewing.

“I myself am neither a hunter nor a bird-trapper, so you can set your mind to rest on that. I condemn all illegal hunting. I am not here as a commissioner from Malta, I am here as a commissioner for the European Union. My interests are the interests of the European Union. As such I would expect all member states to implement EU law, when it comes to my member state or any other.”

Apart from declaring war on all environmental abuse, Vella also claimed that hunting and tourists’ complaints on hunting were a problem for him as tourism minister.

But when the chance came, he explained to MEPs that Malta was the least offending state when it came to environmental infringements, suddenly comparing Malta’s five offences to “the 25s, the 19s…” and all other member states who were still behind in implementing the EU’s environmental laws.

But if Vella failed to add sparkle to his delivery, it was his inability to stray away from clichés that exposed his lack of sensitivity to the green portfolio.

Overusing ‘sustainability’, resting on buzzwords like ‘circular economy’, ‘green economy’, ‘competitiveness and jobs’, Vella tried to reassure MEPs that he was here to introduce the environmental dimension that Juncker’s growth-focused agenda needed.

But he also showed himself to be able to manoeuvre the fisheries portfolio, and tell MEPs convincingly that he would fight illegal and undeclared fishing, but also defend Third Country fishing agreements for fishermen to continue entering non-EU waters.

Karmenu Vella closing statement during MEPs' grilling

As he started, he also finished, telling MEPs that his job would be to mainstream the environment in his colleagues’ policy areas.

And then a sentimental off-script moment, even though the umpteenth cliché might have not impressed his dour audience. He held up a picture of his two young grandchildren: “A few years ago I had two heroes in my life, my parents. Both my parents passed away, but now I have two more superheroes – Adam and Jack… We do not inherit what we have from our parents, but we borrow it from our children.”

It’s an over-used quotation, and perhaps it reflects Vella as the soft-spoken ‘nice guy’. But does this provincial likeability translate into the type of energy that European Commissioners are usually made of? It’s this kind of passive demeanour that will be put to the test. Even ENVI chairman Giovanni La Via remarked that Vella had been burdened with a vast portfolio, but conceded that he may not have been very precise on some answers.