Social Dialogue Minister Helena Dalli today said that the closer we are to the EU presidency, the more work with technical people is being done to ensure the highest in success rates.
Speaking during a MEUSAC Core Group meeting, Dr Dalli said more meetings were planned for the last remaining six months before the presidency comes to Malta. “Naturally, we still have more studies to do in order to ensure that we do our best,” the Minister added.
Parliamentary Secretary for the EU Presidency 2017 and EU Funds Ian Borg also spoke about the priorities and programme of the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU at length. The point of such meetings, according to Dr Borg, is to be constantly informed regarding the progress being made in planning.
One point which Dr Borg repeatedly insisted on was that “we have an obligation to give back to the EU” during the presidency, rather than simply thinking of what we can get from it. In fact, Malta’s presence in Brussels was significantly strengthened in preparation for the presidency with a number of events and officials currently working in the offices of the permanent representation of Malta in Brussels.
There have even been events to promote Maltese culture organised by the Maltese representation offices in Geneva, New York, Vienna and Rome. The Memorandum of Understanding signed with Slovakia to ensure technical help in preparation is also bearing fruit, said Dr Borg. Around 300 officials are currently being trained in Malta, along with 150 others in Brussels.
Malta will house around 200 informal meetings, including at least 12 ones on a ministerial level with the rest still being high profile meetings including discussions with members of the European Council and MEPs. Around 20,000 officials from the EU will be residing in Malta throughout the presidency and logistical meetings for this influx are moving along at a good pace.
Dr Borg spoke of a number of events which will happen during our leg of the presidency which will prove to be challenging yet fruitful if tackled correctly. These include the end of term for both the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, as well as the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz.
The UK’s decision on whether or not they will remain members of the EU will also affect the presidency in terms of what will be happening in Brussels to deal with the effects of this decision. Another event is the 60th Anniversary of the Treaty of Rome which led to the founding of the European Economic Community (EEC).
A number of issues which we should be tackling are the energy crisis and work towards a circular economy, among issues. AT the same time, national issues like Health and Education will also be discussed on a pan-European level, despite them being traditionally national issues. Dr Borg insisted that collaboration with NGOs and Social Partners is key at this stage and throughout the presidency.