House of Representatives Annual Report 2017 House of Representatives Parliament of Malta Freedom Square Valletta Tel: +356 2559 6000 Website: www.parlament.mt Printed at the Government Printing Press Photos: Office of the Speaker and Department of Information ‘There shall be a Parliament of Malta which shall consist of the President and a House of Representatives’. [Article 51 of the Constitution of Malta] ‘Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, Parliament may make laws for the peace, order and good government of Malta in conformity with full respect for human rights, generally accepted principles of international law and Malta’s international and regional obligations in particular those assumed by the treaty of accession to the European Union signed in Athens on the 16th April, 2003’. [Article 65 (1) of the Constitution of Malta] Table of Contents FOREWORD............................................................................................................................................................. 3 1. HOUSE BUSINESS ................................................................................................................................................ 5 1.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1.1 New initiatives taken by Parliament in 2017......................................................................................... 5 1.1.2 Composition of Parliament ..................................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Legislative Programme ................................................................................................................................... 6 1.2.1 New legislation and objectives behind the following bills ................................................................ 6 1.2.2 Amendment Acts and objectives behind the following amendment bills .................................... 7 1.3 Parliamentary Questions ................................................................................................................................. 8 1.4 Ministerial Statements ...................................................................................................................................... 9 1.5 Petitions .............................................................................................................................................................. 9 1.6 Motions ............................................................................................................................................................... 9 1.7 Papers Laid on the Table of the House ...................................................................................................... 10 1.8 Rulings .............................................................................................................................................................. 11 1.9 Parliamentary Whips ...................................................................................................................................... 12 1.10 Leader of the House .................................................................................................................................... 12 2. STANDING COMMITTEES ............................................................................................................................... 13 2.1 Standing Committee on House Business ................................................................................................... 13 2.2 Standing Committee on Privileges ............................................................................................................. 14 2.3 Standing Committee on Public Accounts ................................................................................................. 14 2.4 Standing Committee on Foreign and European Affairs .............................................................................. 15 2.4.1 Informal Meetings ................................................................................................................................... 16 2.4.2 Sub-Committees ..................................................................................................................................... 17 2.4.3 Meetings of the Working Group ........................................................................................................... 17 2.5 Standing Committee on Social Affairs ....................................................................................................... 17 2.6 Standing Committee on Family Affairs....................................................................................................... 18 2.7 Standing Committee on Economic and Financial Affairs ...................................................................... 19 2.8 Standing Committee on Health .................................................................................................................. 19 2.9 Standing Committee for the Consideration of Bills ......................................................................................... 20 2.9.1 Adjunct Committee for the Consideration of Bills ............................................................................. 21 2.10 National Audit Office Accounts Committee ........................................................................................... 22 2.11 Standing Committee on Environment and Development Planning ................................................... 22 2.12 Standing Committee on Petitions ............................................................................................................. 23 2.13 Parliamentary Group on the European Capital of Culture 2018 ......................................................... 24 3. INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................................................ 25 3.1 Outgoing Visits and participation in international fora by the Office of the Speaker ....................... 25 3.1.1 Standing Committee of the CSPOC, London ................................................................................... 25 3.1.2 Inauguration of exhibition on the occasion of the launch of the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Rome ............................................................................................. 25 3.1.3 38th Session of the Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organisation, Brussels ........................................................................................................................... 25 3.1.4 60th Anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, Rome ............................................................................... 25 3.1.5 11th Conference of Presidents of Parliaments of Small European States, San Marino ............... 26 3.1.6 Conference of Speakers of EU Parliaments, Bratislava .................................................................... 26 3.1.7 Mid-Year Executive Committee Meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Darwin ..................................................................................................................................................... 26 3.1.8 4th Summit of Presidents of Parliaments of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean, Rome .......................................................................................................................... 27 3.1.9 47th British Isles and the Mediterranean Region (BIMR) Conference, Gibraltar ........................... 27 3.1.10 Official Visit to Cuba ............................................................................................................................ 28 3.1.11 39th Session of the Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organisation, Geneva ......................................................................................................................... 28 3.1.12 137th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), St Petersburg ......................... 28 3.1.13 63rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, Dhaka ............................................................ 29 3.1.13.1 36th Meeting of the Small Branches of the CPA, Dhaka ........................................................ 29 3.1.14 10th Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum, Washington ....................................................... 30 3.1.15 Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organisation, Buenos Aires ............................ 30 3.2 Parliamentary Dimension of the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union ......... 30 3.2.1 Meeting with European Commission President ................................................................................. 31 3.2.2 Meeting with the College of Commissioners ..................................................................................... 31 Page | 1 3.2.3 Meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC ............................................................................................ 31 3.2.4 European Parliamentary Week, European Parliament, Brussels .................................................... 33 3.2.5 Visit by the President of the European Parliament ..........................................................................