Malta’s presidency of the EU Council : external relations in the presidency of a small state

Abstract

On the 4th July the European Parliament in Plenary met to discuss the report on Malta’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker both addressed the meeting. The session was very poorly attended by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and this led to an altercation between Juncker and the President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani. Addressing the Chair, Juncker said, “Monsieur le Président, Monsieur le Premier ministre, le Parlement européen est ridicule, très ridicule. Je salue ceux qui se sont donné la peine de se déplacer ici, mais le fait qu’une trentaine de députés seulement assiste à ce débat démontre à suffisance que le Parlement n’est pas sérieux, et je voulais le dire aujourd’hui. Si M. Muscat était Mme Merkel difficilement imaginable – ou M. Macron – plus imaginable ...We would have a full House. The Parliament is totally ridiculous.” Mr Tajani asked the President of the Commission to moderate his tone, reminding him that though Juncker could criticize the Parliament, it is not “la Commission qui doit contrôler le Parlement. C’est le Parlement qui doit contrôler la Commission”. Juncker pressed the point further: “There are only a few Members in the plenary to control the Commission. You are ridiculous! I wanted to pay tribute to the Maltese Presidency ... I will never again attend a meeting of this kind. The Commission is under the control of the Parliament, but the Parliament has to respect even the presidencies of smaller countries” concluded Mr Juncker. [excerpt]