Government contradicts Muscat’s allegations of EU fund mishandling

Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat said that the government had not been handling EU funds wisely and could be seen by failing government projects and debt which had increased by €31 million since 2010.

Muscat had also said that the EU Commission itself said that the Maltese government “says a lot, has a lot of good plans but does not deliver”.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said that, contrary to what was said by Muscat, Malta had been praised by EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn during a visit for its economic growth since joining the EU.

The government said that negotiations regarding funds for the years following 2014 have not yet been finalised with the EU Commission and any statements made about the amount to be taken by Malta in EU funds are just speculation.

“Contrary to what was said by the Labour Party, the Maltese Government is very active in negotiations with a goal to ascertain that Malta takes deserved funds for the period between 2014 and 2020” the Government said.

The government also said that Malta is still eligible for the full allocation of financial funding from the EU Cohesion Funds and changes are only being made to Structural Funds resulting from certain proposals made by the EU Commission.

“If Malta exceeds a 75% Gross Domestic Growth, signifying economic growth which has been proven, Malta’s status will change from ‘Convergence’ or ‘Objective 1’ to ‘transition’ according to the Commission’s proposal,” the government explained.

Member states which fall under the new status of “transition” would receive a minimum of two thirds of the present allocation of Structural Funds.

If Malta ceases to remain under the limit of 75% due to Bulgaria and Romania’s entry into the EU, creating a statistical change, the government said that the EU Commission has been alerted that in this case, additional funds would be required.

“It is also good to mention that during the period between 2007 and 2013, Malta  will have received more than a billion euros from EU funds.

“Malta was only eligible for these funds thanks to Malta’s entry into the EU and thanks to the work done by the Maltese government. The Labour Party had opposed this and offered ‘Partnership’ as an alternative which would have only resulted in €1.5 million euros a year from EU funds,” the government said.