28 June - 4 July 2001

‘Big success for Malta’ – Dr Joe Borg

by Ivan Brincat

Negotiations can and do take full account of the particular needs and circumstances of a candidate country, once these needs and circumstances are clearly spelled out, the chairman of the core negotiating group Richard Cachia Caruana said yesterday.
He was speaking during an extra accession conference held by the Swedish presidency in which Malta provisionally closed the chapter on Free Movement of
Persons.
Mr Cachia Caruana said the provisional closure of the chapter further underlines that upon accession Malta will be an active participant in the internal market. Malta has already closed the Free movement of Goods and the free movement of services chapter.
Meanwhile, on his return from Brussels, Foreign Affairs Minister Joe Borg expressed his satisfaction at the outcome and the historic decision taken regarding this chapter.
“This is a big success for Malta in two ways. For a start, Maltese people can go to any EU country and work and secondly the influx of workers from the Union to Malta will be strictly limited,” he said.
Dr Borg said the EU had listened to and understood Malta’s fears in this respect and acceded to the request. However, Dr Borg was quick to point out that the possibility of an influx of foreign workers to Malta was just “a fear” rather than a likely scenario.
Getting the EU to accept the issue was not an easy task: “I believe it was a tough nut to crack. And for the EU this is the first time such a decision was made.”
During yesterday’s meeting the chapter on Justice and Home Affairs was also opened, thus bringing the number of chapters opened to 28, 17 of which have now been provisionally closed. In all, 11 chapters were opened under the Swedish presidency and five were closed.
The acquis falling under this chapter will give Maltese citizens, on accession, important new rights regarding residence and the seeking of employment in other member states; the recognition, in other member states, of Maltese qualifications for professional purposes; as well as, significant improvements in the entitlement of Maltese citizens to social security benefits through the coordination of social security systems existing in different member states.
Mr Cachia Caruana said: “There is in Malta a general, and I may say not surprising, perception that we are a particularly attractive location as a place for work and residence. When coupled with the considerations that our present active working population totals 142,000 persons, and that we have traditionally had a relatively low unemployment rate in Malta, this gives rise to concerns that EU membership could bring in its wake unpredictable high influxes of additional labour beyond the capacity of our market to absorb.”
Malta’s objective in tackling this issue was to seek a solution which responded to the legitimate concerns of the Maltese population in this regard and also reflected our full commitment towards membership of the Union.
“Our wish is not to stand aside from any of the basic commitments of membership, but rather to equip ourselves fully to live up to these commitments,” the chief negotiator said.
“We believe that the outcome,
in the shape of the safeguard formula which has been worked out, meets all the basic objectives. Malta can therefore start applying, and benefiting from, this part of the acquis from day one of its membership, with the assurance that if any problems arise, it can take appropriate remedial action.”
He said none of the candidate countries in previous enlargements has felt the need to seek safeguard measures on free movement of workers as part of its accession process.
“The fact that a specific and satisfactory response could be generated in this regard says a lot about the nature of the Union we will be joining. It is equally a major source of encouragement for the rest of the negotiations where other issues of importance and sensitivity will be taken up,” Mr Cachia Caruana said.
On the other hand the Justice and Home Affairs chapter touches upon very sensitive matters relating both to the Union’s external borders as well as to its internal management.
“Malta’s aim in the negotiations is to show that we are well equipped to accept the acquis under this chapter in all its aspects: border control, visa policy, asylum and refugee policy, the fight against corruption and crime and the furtherance of the rule of law in our societies.
“We stand ready to become part of the Schengen area as soon as possible after membership. We are also ready to form part of a Union deeply involved in furthering the wider international dimension of the rule of law and cooperation against crime and corruption.
“It is a matter of satisfaction for us that in the area of Justice and Home Affairs there are no transitional periods or special arrangements required on our part. In this spirit, it is our hope and expectation that this chapter will be ready for closure in the near future,” he said.