Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/726681
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 14 SEPTEMBER 2016 7 CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 "I, there- fore, feel comforted in referring my nomination to the Council of Min- isters, in line with the governance mechanisms of the EU Treaties re- garding appointments of members to the European Court of Audi- tors," Brincat explained. If Brincat's nomination is con- firmed by the council of justice and interior ministers it will not be the first time the European Parliament has been overruled. Earlier this year, the council of ministers irked MEPs after ap- proving the nomination of Polish candidate Janusz Wojciechowski from the conservative Law and Jus- tice party despite doubts about his "independent judgement." Neven Mates, who has served as the Croatian representative on the Court of Auditors since 2013, was also originally rejected both by MEPs on the budgetary con- trol committee and then by MEPs in the plenary vote. However, the European Council endorsed his nomination a month after the ple- nary vote. Meanwhile, the rapporteur for the Budgetary Control Commit- tee, which accepted Brincat's nom- ination acknowledged it only had a consultative role in the matter but asked that the Council respects the plenary vote. Government, opposition trade barbs on MEP vote In a statement, the government said it was displeased at the Euro- pean Parliament's vote, saying it hoped Brincat's nomination would now be decided upon by the Eu- ropean Council – which requires unanimous approval. "It is a pity that Maltese MEPs did not support his nomination, purely for the partisan gain of the Opposi- tion. Something that confirms how its interests lie in political games and not the country's interest. "A serious Opposition would have put Malta first in all inter- national forums, without reserva- tions," it said. In their reaction, the National- ist Party turned the tables on Jo- seph Muscat, blaming him and the Panama Papers revelations for both Brincat's and Toni Abela's re- jection. "The Prime Minister should stop tarnishing our country's reputa- tion," tweeted the PN leader Simon Busuttil. Meanwhile, the Nationalist party said it would be ready to support any Maltese nomination - "as long as the person makes Malta proud" - and criticised government for failing to consult it ahead of the nominations. Malta paying for Panamagate debacle Alternattiva Demokratika also blamed the government, arguing that Malta was "paying for Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri's uneth- ical behaviour". Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Arnold Cassola said: "Brincat, who had the political experience and the professional background to do a decent job in the European Court of Audi- tors, was quite ambivalent in his answers at the EP parliamentary hearing, after having voted in fa- vour of Konrad Mizzi in a motion of no confidence." "He is now paying for the shame- ful unethical behaviour of Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri in the Panama Papers affair," Cassola said. The Labour Party further con- demned the decision by Nation- alist MEPs to vote against Leo Brincat's nomination and said it was clear that the PN had chosen partisan interests over the national interest. It said it was shameful that Mal- tese MEPs – elected by the people to represent the best interests of the country – voted against the approval of a Maltese nominee. Which is exactly what PN MEPs did, it said. "They did this after Brincat's nomination had already been ap- proved by the committee for budg- etary control and after his com- petence and integrity had been reaffirmed in the parliamentary hearing," the Labour Party said. Aside from the two main parties, AD said that Malta's reputation was being damaged and things "can only get worse". Cassola reminded everyone that an investigation committee of the European Parliament will be com- ing to Malta by the end of the year to collect facts and interview wit- nesses. "It is imperative that the Prime Minister immediately ditches Mizzi, Schembri and any other politician and hangers-on involved in the Panama Papers scandal," he said. "Malta simply cannot afford being foul-mouthed internation- ally any longer because of this lot, even more so on the eve of taking up the EU Presidency in January." The EPP, the Nationalist Party's grouping in the European Parlia- ment, said that the Panama Papers and the sale-of-citizenship scheme were doing "untold damage" to Malta's reputation. "We cannot in our wildest dreams accept Brincat as a mem- ber of the European Court of Au- ditors, out of all institutions, as his was until recently part and parcel of this government," it said in a statement. "For the sake of Malta's interests, we implore Prime Min- ister Joseph Muscat to see sense and nominate an independent and competent candidate." PN leader Simon Busuttil said: "The vote will not be about Leo Brincat, but about Joseph Muscat and about whether it is acceptable for him to have kept Konrad Mizzi as a Cabinet minister after the Panama Papers scandal." But former PN leadership con- tender and entrepreneur Ray Buge- ja expressed an opposing view to Busuttil's sentiment, saying: "Brin- cat should be judged on his quali- ties, not for toeing the party line". Lawyer Robert Abela, son of for- mer president George Abela, also questioned on Facebook whether the PN had notified the EEP that the citiizenship-for-sale scheme was being pushed and sold by agents that were also top PN offi- cials. Brincat narrowly passed last week's vote by the EP's commit- tee for budgetary control – with 11 votes in favour, nine against and one abstention. Those who voted in favour of Brincat included La- bour MEP and former Prime Min- ister Alfred Sant, who was present as a substitute for an MEP. News Dwarna with Mariella Dimech every Tuesday at 21.00 on TVM2 Government displeased, PN laments lack of consultation Competition authority rules church schools' transport prices not excessive THE Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority has ruled that Church school transport fees are not excessive. Following an investigation, it ruled that there is no sufficient grounds to state that Coop Ser- vices Limited had abused its dominant position in breach of the Competition Act. The investigation was launched last April, following a request by education minis- ter Evarist Bartolo. Bartolo said that he had received complaints from parents whose children attend church schools about raised fees for school transport. "This rise in fares will neu- tralise the tax reductions we have given parents to encour- age them to use school trans- port instead of private trans- port," Bartolo said. One of the complainants, the minister said, had received an email from the bus coopera- tive Coop Services, informing them of a rise in fares for the third consecutive year by €70 per child. The parent in question said her transport costs had in- creased from €550 in 2014 to €650 in 2016. "This increase neutralises the fiscal incentive government announced two years ago," she said. "The price of diesel has gone down so this increase in price is unjustified." Adding insult to injury, the parent's child was being col- lected as early as 6:30am – usu- ally a pretext for the same bus driver to make extra runs – and then is dropped back home at 3:30pm, when school ends at 2:30pm The parent said it was inex- cusable for Coop Services to claim they were spending more in fuel due to increased traffic congestion or because of fleet investment.