Miriam Dalli asks Brussels if Manoel Island deal can still be legally challenged

Labour Party MEP Miriam Dalli has asked the European Commission if and how the Manoel Island deal that had been brokered back in 2000 can still benefit from EU Directives that would allow the project to be reviewed by a court of law to challenge the legality of the decision.

Dr Dalli cites Article 11 of the EU’s Environmental Impact Assessment directive, which states that member states are obliged to ensure that entities with sufficient in- terest in such projects should have access to a review procedure before a court of law or an independent and impartial body established by law to challenge the legality of such decisions.

She also cites Article 6 of the Directive, which obliges member states to ensure that both the public and the authorities likely to be concerned by a project are given the opportunity to express their opinion about it.

In a written European Parlia- mentyary Question filed last Thursday, Dr Dalli notes that although the deal had been negotiated in 2000, before Malta’s EU accession, “the company has now released its development plans for the area, which include a hotel, shopping complex and casino”.

In her question to the European Commission, which will most likely be answered by her father-in-law Karmenu Vella in his capacity as the EU’s Environment Commissioner, Dr Dalli notes, “The is- land [Manoel Island] includes the 18th century Fort Manoel – an attraction that has been on the Maltese government’s tentative list of UNESCO world heritage sites since 1998.”

She also asks, “Given that the sale of land occurred prior to Malta’s accession to the EU, can EU citizens, and Maltese citizens in particular, still benefit from the rights enshrined in Articles 6 and 11 of EIA Directive 2011/92/EU? If so, how?”