Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/844884
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 5 JULY 2017 News Poor MEP attendance for Malta's end-of- presidency speech raises Juncker's ire Jean-Claude Juncker lashes out at 'ridiculous' European Parliament after only 30 MEPs turned up for Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's end-of-presidency speech MIRIAM DALLI MALTA has always had a tra- dition of ending events with fireworks, and the tradition continued even yesterday in Strasbourg as sparks flew be- tween European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the European Parliament president, Antoni Tajani – both from the EPP family. The cause? The MEPs' poor attendance for a plenary ad- dressed by Prime Minister Jo- seph Muscat at the end of Mal- ta's presidency of the council of the European Union. Somewhat feeling embar- rassed as Muscat sat next to EU affairs minister He- lena Dalli in an almost empty chamber, Juncker lashed out at "the ridiculous parliament" with "no respect for smaller countries". "I would like to welcome those who actually took the trouble to come… but the fact that there are 30 MPs present in this debate only illustrates the fact that this EP is not seri- ous," Juncker said. To deliver his message home, Juncker argued that more MEPs would have turned up if Muscat were Germany's An- gela Merkel or France's Em- manueal Macron. The com- ment elicited a smirk from Muscat. But the European Parlia- ment's president refused to have another institution's president call out his MEPs: "Please Mr President, can you have a more respectful at- titude? You may criticise the Parliament, but the Commis- sion may not control the Par- liament: it's the Parliament that controls the Commis- sion." The comment prompted the applause of some of the MEPs, as the camera caught PN MEP David Casa grinning and clap- ping. Juncker, known for his brash attitude, scoffed at Tajani's comment: "Only a few mem- bers in the plenary to control the Commission… you are ri- diculous. "I will never again attend a meeting of this kind. The Commission is under the con- trol of the Parliament but the Parliament has to respect even the Presidencies of smaller countries, something which the parliament is not doing." Jean-Claude Juncker greeting Prime Minister Joseph Muscat as Minister Helena Dalli looks on