‘No special deal’ from Brussels over deficit

Brussels has made it clear Malta will get no special treatment over the recommendation to open an excessive deficit procedure against it. It reiterated that the island might be ordered to take “further corrective action” to the 2013 Budget if it was not satisfied with the plan to be submitted by the Maltese authorities this October. Following the EDP announcement by the European Commission last week, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told Parliament that the Government had “negotiated with the EU so that no spending cuts are imposed on the island”. “The EDP is not something that is negotiated with member states,” a commission official told Times of Malta. “The rules of the EDP are very clearly set out under the Stability and Growth Pact, which has been strengthened in the past couple of years.” As guardian of the EU treaties, it is the commission’s responsibility and mandate to respect the rules. Asked specifically to state whether the commission and Malta had negotiated the terms of the recommendation, as suggested by the Prime Minister, an EU official categorically said it was not the case. When asked to give further details on the “negotiations” mentioned by Dr Muscat in...