opinion

The transitory period

Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi talks of misleading questions and a warped presentation of the facts on the latest in European Union negotiations

Last Sunday’s MaltaToday opinion poll carried the question "Do you agree with the seven year delay negotiated with the EU not to allow EU citizens to work in Malta after membership?" This question, apart from being misleading, is based on an incorrect premise altogether.

Primarily, Malta’s negotiators have not achieved a seven-year period wherein EU citizens will not be allowed to work in Malta after membership. The government of Malta has agreed that EU citizens, for seven years following Malta’s accession to the EU, will still have to apply to have a work permit, yet the work permit will be automatically granted. Moreover, during the said seven year transitory period, the government of Malta, in the case of an excessive influx of EU citizens applying for work permits in Malta, may seek authority from the EU Commission to suspend the right to EU nationals to be granted automatically work permits in Malta.

Thus, it is amply clear that EU nationals shall have a right to apply for work permits, which shall be granted to EU nationals by right. Therefore, there is no seven year period wherein EU nationals shall not have the right to come to work in Malta.

It must be pointed out that the only safe-guard, if the term applies, that government has achieved, is that in the case of an excessive influx of EU citizens taking up jobs in Malta, then government may ask for the EU Commission’s authorisation in order to suspend that right. Thus, the final and effective decision whether EU citizens should continue to take up jobs in Malta shall not be in the hands of the government of Malta but in the hands of the Brussels based EU Commission.

Apart from being based on an incorrect premise, this question is misleading since there are other factors related to the freedom of movement of workers that are not covered by the transitory period achieved by government.

Primarily, the transitory period is limited to the freedom of movement of workers. It does not provide for the freedom of movement of services nor the freedom of movement of establishment. EU law provides that any citizen of the EU that wishes to provide a service may do so in any member state of the EU without being subject to any limitations or barriers related to boundaries.

The freedom of movement of services granted by EU law provides that any person has the right to set up shop or may provide any service in any EU member country. Thus if for example an Italian citizen wishes to provide services as an electrician or plasterer, that person is free to do so. As a result, if an Italian bids for an electrical installation in Malta and is awarded the job, government cannot stop him from carrying it out so as long as the regulations related to electrical installations are respected. Moreover, if the Italian electrician employs Italian personnel, then he may bring over his own personnel to carry out the installation in Malta.

The seven year transitory period does not cover such an instance, since the Italian would not be needing a work permit since he will not be employed as such and will offer a service on a job by job basis.

Another factor not being taken into consideration is that at present, in order to apply for a work permit, a foreigner who comes to Malta must first have the job available. In fact, work permits are not applied for by the employee but by the employer. The rule to date is that work permits if granted to foreigners only of the expertise that is being sought after is not available within the Maltese work force.

The seven year period being presented as a safeguard to the influx of EU citizens does not provide for all this.

Thus, when one takes into consideration all the factors that have been discussed, one concludes that the iPoll carried out by the MaltaToday has no significance whatsoever. In future, the questions presented to the public should be clearer and by no means misleading or based on incorrect premises. Questions such as the one carried by the MaltaToday last Sunday do no justice to the Malta-EU relations debate.

They just confuse readers more.