European Parliament chief, Maltese PM trade accusations over Maltese language use

Malta’s Socialist (S&D) Prime Minister Robert Abela and President of European Parliament Roberta Metsola, who is a member of the country’s opposition Nationalist Party (EPP), are trading blows over a decades-old debate on using the Maltese language in the institution.

In a letter sent by Abela to Metsola and seen by Euractiv, criticism was levied at the European Parliament chief for not doing more to promote her native language and accusing her of not promoting fair working conditions for interpreters.

Metsola, meanwhile, maintains she asked him to help solve the issue previously and called on him not to make it a partisan issue.

According to Abela’s letter, “The main problem is linked to the working conditions of these interpreters, and therefore, you can intervene directly so that the European Parliament can improve the situation immediately.”

Parliament’s internal rules state that documents must be translated into all 24 EU official languages, and all lawmakers have the right to speak in one of the official languages, with support from interpreters.

Maltese and Irish Gaelic have been exempted from such obligations as the Parliament argues there is a shortage of trained professionals.

Last December, the European Parliament leadership, including President Roberta Metsola, a Maltese politician, decided to extend the exemption, thus also extending the status quo since 2004.

The Parliament and Metsola argue that the decision was taken because of a shortage of interpreter – a matter that has been known for some 20 years. Back then, before Malta joined the EU, the shortage was noted, with EU institutions scrambling unsuccessfully to find short-term solutions.

In 2005, then-prime minister Joseph Muscat refused to continue addressing the European Parliament due to a lack of Maltese interpreters. A similar scene was repeated in 2023 with Agius Saliba and opposition MEP David Casa.

In 2014, Labour’s then-parliamentary secretary for the EU Council presidency, Ian Borg, promised in an op-ed to train and encourage new recruits to fill the then-40 vacant positions in Brussels.

But this did not happen and ten years later, with no new hires in the interim, the Maltese government says the shortage of interpreters is the result of poor working conditions offered by the European Parliament.

20-year-old problem

Abela writes he would have liked to be informed of Metsola’s intention to extend the derogation and to have discussed the issue, stating that “one would have expected that if the situation was a concern for you, the discussion would start before the decision is taken and not after”.

To the criticism, Metsola responded in Maltese media, stating she “again appeals to the Prime Minister to stop playing sad partisan games in an effort to shift attention away from the infighting of his political party and find a solution… and perhaps reply to a letter that has been pending for six weeks”.

The Parliament’s president referred to a letter sent to Abela in early February, warning him of the issue of being unable to find Maltese interpreters and translators.

In it, she said, “This issue is dear to my heart, and I felt the need to say that the European Parliament is ready to do everything to address these issues.”

She added that the parliament is ready to “enhance cooperation” with the Maltese government and “find sustainable ways to increase the availability of Maltese persons trained in interpretation and translation”.

Working conditions or staff shortage?

There are currently 28 Maltese interpreters for all EU institutions, with three-quarters regularly working at Parliament, but all are freelancers.

According to Maltese member of Parliament from Abela’s governing socialist party EU lawmaker Cyrus Engerer, these freelancers are given little work outside the plenary sessions [ie. four days a month] making it difficult to recruit people, he told Euractiv.

His colleague, Alex Agius Saliba, echoed his comments, stating there are massive problems due to the freelancer stance of the Parliament, but added, “How can it be that we haven’t found enough Maltese interpreters?”

MEP David Casa, from Metsola’s party, told the Times of Malta that it is necessary to incentivise and support training in interpretation to encourage more staff to the profession.

A tricky path, however, lies ahead for the Maltese government, as there are only around 530,000 Maltese speakers, and English remains an official language.

Bids to try and alleviate the issue, including a partnership with the University of Malta, have so far not solved the issue.

[Edited by Aurélie Pugnet/Alice Taylor]