Institutional reform giving Malta moral authority in EU budget negotiations - Abela

The institutional reforms implemented by the government in the past months are giving Malta a stronger moral authority in difficult EU-level negotiations on a €1 trillion budget, Robert Abela said.

The Prime Minister, who is currently in Brussels for a special days-long European Council summit on the 2021-2027 Multi Annual Financial Framework and the COVID-19 recovery budget, said talks had currently reached an impasse, which, amongst other things, was related to the respect for the rule of law being being tied as a condition for funds to be distributed.

"Things don't seem to be going very well in terms of the [overall] success of the discussions. In terms of the package for Malta, we will get to the arrangement we want. But, when it comes to the seven-year budget and the COVID recovery fund, discussions have stalled. The biggest issue is related to the coronavirus fund and its architecture," Abela said during a telephone interview on ONE Radio on Sunday.

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"Last night, talks kept going till midnight, and the issue turned to the rule of law. The rule of law is being suggested as one of the conditions for funds to be given," he said, highlighting that some countries were opposing this.

"For Malta it would, until a few months ago, have been difficult [to agree to this condition]. But, with all the changes we've put in place, we now had no difficulty whatsoever for the respect for the rule of law being one of the conditions for access to funds. This is the fruit of the changes we've made in the past six months."

Other issues of major contention during the negotiations are linked to which portion of the COVID recovery budget will be in the form of loan and of grants, and to how much assistance each country will get, and when it will receive it, Abela said.

"The chance of discussion concluding this week is not very good... But we cannot wait longer for an agreement on the seven-year budget, since this comes into effect from January 2021. And the immediacy takes on a new dimension when it comes to the COVID funds, since each country wants the help yesterday rather than today."

Malta refusing to be penalised for its success

Malta, Abela said, was refusing to accept that one of the criteria, to decide how many funds a country should get, be connected with its recent unemployment rates. "Since we've reduced unemployment in Malta, we will be disadvantaged. I brought this up and suggested different criteria which can be used to determine the allocation of funds... And other countries have now also taken up the same line we suggested," he said.

"Why should we be penalised for keeping unemployment low?"

The same issues related to the discussions on the MFF budget, he said.

"We will for sure not allow these things to dishearten us from getting the best budget for our country. We will remain forceful in our arguments," Abela said, underscoring that he was convinced Malta would be successful in reaching a positive agreement.

Abela added that he had noticed a significant difference in the way Malta was perceived compared to the situation earlier this year. "The respect for our country keeps increasing, and we now have more moral authority to make our voice heard. We now have the credentials to speak about the rule of law."