|
Kurt Sansone
Now it’s semi-official; Malta will still be eligible for Objective One funding according to statistics published by Eurostat on Thursday but only just.
The way the news was mooted, however, by the Department of Information through an innocuous press release containing a very dry comment by the Prime Minister raises a number of curiosities.
The statistics are important because they provide the basis for discussions that will be held in the coming months between leaders of the member states on the bloc’s budget for 2007-2013. But it is only then that Malta would officially be accorded Objective One status obtaining the highest level of funding possible.
With a GDP calculated at 74.75 per cent of the EU average, Malta just managed to stay below the 75 per cent threshold beyond which a region loses its Objective One status.
Only last Tuesday, officials at the foreign affairs ministry were still with their fingers crossed that the EU would accept the new set of revised statistics submitted by Government to show that Malta’s GDP was still below the EU average.
“We did our best to ensure that the issue concerning eligibility for Objective One funding would not arise,” a foreign office official told MaltaToday, totally oblivious of the positive news to be published by Eurostat two days later.
Objective One funding was a major issue of concern for Government in EU circles after provisional statistics published in January this year showed Malta could lose its status as a major receiver of EU funds.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had also gone to Brussels in full fighting mode saying that it was unacceptable for Malta to lose its Objective One status. Gonzi’s call to arms was however partially marred by a report in l-orizzont that had speculated on the existence of an unwritten agreement between Malta and the Commission that accorded the country Objective One status irrespective of what statistics said.
Gonzi shot down the contents of the report. Objective One funding was turning out to be an intense poker game with behind the scenes wheeling and dealing between Government officials and Brussels bureaucrats.
And when the positive news came, it was announced with uncharacteristically little fanfare by Government.
The news that Malta may be eligible for Objective One funding has alleviated the burden on Government’s shoulder in its negotiations with the Commission on the budget for 2007-2013.
A bone of contention remains the method by which the EU calculates the distribution of cohesion funds. As things stand, the mathematical calculation favours sparsely populated areas creating a major problem for a densely populated island like Malta. Government is lobbying to have the formula changed in such a way so as not to disadvantage the island.
kurt@newsworksltd.com
|
