Malta meets pre-conditions for first EU enlargement wave

by Ivan Brincat

Malta meets the preconditions for inclusion in a first round of enlargement, a draft report by the European Parliament rapporteur for Malta says.

A vote on the report, prepared by Ursula Stenzel, will be taken during a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament today.

In her report, Ms Stenzel says that allowing transition periods for the Shipyards and Dockyards makes sense and the European Parliament recognises their importance to the Maltese economy, despite the heavy losses in recent years.

She also calls for negotiations between the EU and Malta to be concluded as efficiently as possible and that negotiations on all chapters should, if possible, be concluded by the end of next year.

The Intergovernmental Conference, the report adds, should adhere to its objective of completing the necessary internal reforms by the end of the year in order to place the EU in a position, as from the end of 2002, to receive the first applicant countries, on condition that they are capable of assuming membership obligations and that negotiations have been successfully concluded.

It also notes that the structural assistance for Malta provided for in the pre-accession strategy should also produce results visible to the people of Malta as quickly as possible in order to reduce the economic disparities between the EU and Malta.

On a negative note, the European Parliament expressed its concern that the government and opposition differ in their assessments of Malta's accession to the European Union.

The EP adds that it supports all efforts by the various European institutions to enter into a constructive dialogue with all constituent corporate bodies and social strata in Malta in order to ensure the continuity of the accession process.

After the report is approved today, the draft resolutions will be tabled to the European Parliament's plenary for discussions and final approval in the first week of October.

The report concludes that Malta has no problems with regard to the respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms. It notes that the country has a functioning market economy and should be in a position to withstand competitive pressure and market forces within the Union provided that it adopts appropriate measures, particularly by continuing its programme of industrial restructuring.

However, reducing the national debt should be one of the country's main objectives. The European Parliament thus welcomed the measures initiated to this end, in particular taxation policy.

Pre-accession aid revised

Ms Stenzel said the European Parliament has created the requisite budgetary conditions to enable Malta to receive pre-accession aid and, in the Brok report, observed that the total sum of Euro 95 million earmarked by the Council for Cyprus and Malta should be revised and that pre-accession aid should be in line with that provided to the other applicant countries.

Under the pre-accession strategy, it is intended that a total of Euro 38m should be provided for Malta in the period 2000-2004. In addition, Malta can obtain loans from the European Investment Bank and participate in Interreg cooperation. The European Parliament noted that Malta has not joined in any Interreg projects, but it could now take part in mutually advantageous cooperation, for instance with Sicily in the field of waste management.

Although Malta is an island state, it would not qualify as one of the least favoured regions or islands, but it does share many problems with outer peripheral islands, and Malta's request for support from funds for such regions, at least in certain fields, should meet with sympathy.

The European Parliament noted that as regards the transposition of the acquis communautaire, i.e. the legal requirements, Malta still has much catching-up to do in various fields.