Malta's Brussels business chief calls for pragmatism over EU
by Anthony Manduca
Leonard Mizzi, the director of the Malta Business Bureau in Brussels, which represents the Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Industry, has called on the political parties, business organisations and NGOs to adopt a more pragmatic tone over the country's European Union debate. In the first part of an article entitled "Embarking on Accession Negotiations: A Business Perspective" which appears in today's The Malta Business Weekly, Dr Mizzi questions the relevance of bombarding Maltese society with extreme scenarios of what the EU will actually signify.
He says: " A more pragmatic tone should be adopted, especially from the political parties. With immediate effect - and until the EU referendum is held - constituted bodies, NGOs, even the political parties, need to come up with facts. References to other member States are useful but should be cited in context. What happens to Italy, Spain, Portugal or Ireland cannot be necessarily transposed or experienced in Malta."
He adds: "We need to embark on an open, transparent debate about the socio-economic implications underlying the National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis, the allocation of the pre-accession funds, and identify the priority areas which need to feature in the National Development Plan which should be ready before EU accession. The more we prepare ourselves as a nation, the better able we will be to meet the challenges of membership".
Dr Mizzi says the most urgent issues which Malta needs to start tackling are how will negotiations stimulate foreign direct investment to the islands, how should agriculture and fisheries be tackled, how will State aid to ship-repair and ship-building be tackle and the impact of the four freedoms - goods, services, capital and persons.
"It is not sufficient to state that transition periods might be required or some administrator or consultant is analysing a particular issue (probably in a vacuum). Attempting to meet the challenges of EU membership will exert pressure on administrators, businesses and society in general," he says.
Dr Mizzi says that over the coming months it is important that Malta identifies what its strengths and weaknesses are. "We cannot deliver by 2003 what is not deliverable. It would be misleading if promises are made now which clearly could not be guaranteed four years hence. Some argue: we will first become EU members and then we'll see. It is not in our interest to adopt this approach. We need to realise what is achievable and what is not and acknowledge that we cannot meet the set targets in specific areas without creating instability in the socio-economic fabric. This would not be in any one's interest - neither Malta's nor the union's,"he writes.
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