Energy Minister will not publish Malta gas pipeline funds application rejected by Brussels

Updated at 2:25pm with Nationalist Party statement 

Energy Minister Miriam Dalli will not publish Malta’s proposal to obtain EU funds for a gas pipeline that was rejected by the European Commission late last year.

Dalli said the proposal contained information of a “commercially sensitive nature” and could not be tabled in parliament. She was replying to a parliamentary question by Opposition energy spokesperson Ryan Callus.

Malta’s application for EU funds to finance a gas pipeline from Sicily was rejected last year after the European Commission adopted a new priority list for cleaner energy projects that include hydrogen.

Malta now has to submit a fresh application for a gas pipeline that is also hydrogen-ready if it wants to obtain EU funding. A gas pipeline between Sicily and Malta was promised as a means to remove the Liquefied Natural Gas floating storage unit inside Marsaxlokk Bay.

READ ALSO: Malta loses out on EU cash for gas pipeline

Another request by Callus for the publication of the European Commission’s decision to reject Malta’s application was also turned down by the minister.

“The document being referred to is the property of the European Commission and cannot be published by us,” she said.

However, Dalli added that the document also contained information that could possibly prejudice any future applications that Malta may file for funding.

PN statement 

In a statement, the Nationalist Party said the decision not to publish Malta's proposal further highlighted the "incompetence and turmoil," within the energy sector. The party said despite a change in management, it was more of the same. 

"The Nationalist Party calls on Minister Miriam Dalli to stop covering up the disruption of its predecessors and publish documents on the gas pipeline because it is only with transparency that we can offer cheaper and cleaner energy."