Malta to focus on core issues in six-month EU council presidency stint

When Malta takes over the presidency of the EU Council in January, it will be focusing its attention and effort on immigration, security, competitivity and the EU single market

Parliamentary secretary Ian Borg addressing the MEUSAC core group
Parliamentary secretary Ian Borg addressing the MEUSAC core group

In January 2017, as soon as Malta takes over the presidency of the Council of the European Union, it will call for a meeting of senior officials from EU Mediterranean states and North African countries to see what was holding the countries back from starting to implement a migration agenda agreed upon during last November’s summit in Valletta.

Ian Borg, parliamentary secretary for the EU presidency 2017, said that the meeting would be held in January, as Malta felt it was of the utmost importance that an action plan now be drawn up to follow up on last year’s meeting.

“I believe it is our duty to call these officials to task, and to take stock of any stumbling blocks,” he said.

Borg, who was addressing the Core Group of the Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee on Friday, said that Malta would be focusing its six-month stint at the helm of the Council on a number of core issues of importance to the EU and Malta alike.

He said that Malta would aso push for – at minimum – a broad agreement on the reforms necessary to the Common European Asylum System.

This would see all member states participate in the burden-sharing on the issue of immigration that currently sees border states in the southern Mediterranean and Eastern Europe carrying most of the burden.

And Malta would also work on pushing through legislation to turn the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) into a fully-fledged agency, he said.

Borg said that Malta’s presidency would also be focussing on security, competitivity and the EU internal market.

“The internal marker, together with the EU aid allocated to projects, were the two most tangible benefits to EU membership registered by the general public,” he said.

“It is no mere coincidence that the UK, which has voted to leave the EU, is aiming to ensure it will have access to the single market even in a post-Brexit reality.”