European leaders yesterday approved Malta’s bid to adopt the euro come 1 January, a visibly pleased yet concerned Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi confirmed yesterday evening after the first session of the European Council in Brussels.

Speaking to the press in the wake of the initial Council session, Dr Gonzi expressed solidarity with and deep concern for the 700-odd workers made redundant at the VF and Bortex textiles factories this week.

Dr Gonzi said it was of “great satisfaction” that EU leaders yesterday agreed unanimously to Malta’s eurozone membership bid, adding that the motion represented a recognition of Malta’s fiscal achievements over the last three years.

“It was not easy, but through credibility and sustainability we have managed,” Dr Gonzi told journalists, while also thanking the Maltese people for their sacrifices, without which the transition to the euro, he said, would not have been possible.

He also highlighted the fact that Malta’s preparations for the euro changeover have been exemplary and that the European Commission had even recommended other countries signing on to the euro, such as Cyprus, to follow Malta’s example.

Referring to the recent redundancies at Bortex and VF, Dr Gonzi cited the developments as an ill effect of globalisation. Expressing solidarity with the employees and families of the redundant workers, Dr Gonzi added that the government was taking the loss of every single job seriously and that it would do its utmost to assist such workers and their families, while at the same time also creating more jobs for the Maltese.

To this end, Dr Gonzi confirmed the government is exploring the possibility of benefiting from the EU’s European Globalisation Fund (EGF), established last year.

The fund, which provides up to EUR500 million per year, gives one-off, time limited individual support for tailor-made services to help workers affected by globalisation through individual wage allowances, re-training or concrete assistance in finding new jobs and was designed to help workers laid off or made redundant by multi-

national or national companies find and retain new employment.

The EGF will complement the efforts of member states at national, regional and local levels. The one-off, tailor-made services funded by the EGF are to additionally include job search assistance, personalised retraining, promotion of entrepreneurship, and assistance for entering into self-employment.

Dr Gonzi explained the government would be exploring Malta’s eligibility to partake of the fund and that it would most likely be applying in the near future.

In the meantime, Dr Gonzi urged the workers to take courage and said that the government would do all that was possible to help the affected workers.

Malta’s adoption of the euro, the world’s healthiest currency, Dr Gonzi added, would provide Malta with the type of investment and a stronger economy that would result in more employment opportunities.

The final step to euro adoption will be taken on 10 July when European economy and finance ministers meet to set the final irrevocable exchange rate between the Maltese lira and the euro.

As EU leaders gathered for what is expected to be one of the most important European Councils of recent years, Dr Gonzi yesterday stressed the two-day gathering would be of vital importance for Malta in particular in numerous respects.

Top of the European leaders’ agenda are renewed efforts to strike a long sought deal on the European Constitution.

“Although there are a number of obstacles, the EU needs this compromise. We are optimistic and Malta will be doing its utmost in this respect.”

Leaving a European Peoples Party meeting just before the Council convened late yesterday afternoon, Dr Gonzi cited determination and commitment on the part of the 11 EU EPP heads of government to reach an agreement.

In 2004 Malta had agreed to waive its right to an EU commissioner, while the country’s number of European Parliamentary seats would be increased from five to six – in line with the number of seats allocated to Luxemburg.

The issue, Dr Gonzi stressed, would be fundamental to Malta as the EU attempts to hammer out a new constitutional deal.

Malta is also seeking an exemption, along with Cyprus, regarding its status as an island state. At present the EU provides numerous means of assistance for small islands, although current rules do not allow the provision of such assistance to islands on which a capital city is located.

As such, Malta and Cyprus will be seeking an exemption from the technicality so they would be able to qualify for a range of EU funds available for small islands.

Also at the top of Malta’s agenda, and a controversial issue still to be discussed by the time of going to print, are Malta’s migration woes and its recent proposals on burden sharing.

European Commission president Jose Barroso had pledged when in Malta last week to push Malta’s case at this week’s Council.

Malta’s proposals floated at the recent European Justice and Home Affairs Council include distributing migrants rescued by an EU state from the search and rescue area of a non-EU member state proportionately across the EU27.

Although the suggestion had not been warmly received, with the notable exceptions of Germany and Spain, by European ministers last week, Malta nevertheless appears to have the support of the Commission on the issue and concrete developments could be expected during today’s session.

The main opposition to the Constitution comes from the UK, Poland and The Netherlands.

UK prime minister Tony Blair and Polish President Lech Kaczynski are putting up the stiffest resistance to a deal on the Constitution in its current format.

Both are standing firm on their threats to veto any proposals that do not meet their demands, with Britain refusing to cede certain powers to Brussels, and Poland pushing for a re-drafting of new voting rules to give Warsaw more clout.

Poland’s proposals, which Malta is thought to be strongly opposing, dispute the new so-called double majority voting system at council of ministers level, in which votes are awarded on the basis of a country’s population. Germany stands to benefit from the system while Poland fears losing influence.

Poland favours a square root division of national populations to determine the number of votes a country is granted. The system, however, appears to be detrimental to the four largest and six smallest EU states, with Poland benefiting in particular from such as system.

If a deal is struck, the EU expects to see the treaty entering into force in 2009, after ratification by national parliaments in 2008, and after being signed by EU leaders in December 2007.

Mr Blair, arriving for his last EU summit as Britain’s prime minister, predicted that talks would be “very tough”.

“We have to have a real significant change” in any new treaty, Blair said. He voiced support, however, for coming up with a blueprint for how to govern the expanded EU.

“We want to make sure that Europe works more effectively,” he said. “There are almost double the number of countries in Europe today and we need to get this resolved.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is presiding over the last Council under the current German EU presidency, said she would push Blair and Kaczynski to withdraw threats of vetoing a deal.

The EU is considering a voting system that takes into account each country’s population. But Poland appears to want compensation for the deaths it suffered during World War II, when Nazi Germany invaded. Poland argues the country would be a much larger country now were it not for the war.

Meanwhile, Merkel appealed to all her counterparts to “work in a spirit that will allow us to reach fair agreements because the EU has to be able to act to solve the many problems in this world”.

She said Europe needs guidelines laying out how to govern the 27-nation bloc so it can deal with the challenges of such pressing issues as climate change, energy supplies and globalisation.

Germany and others such as Malta are looking to salvage as much as they can from the derailed Constitution – which EU leaders agreed upon in 2004 after years of negotiations, and which 18 states, including Malta, ratified.

The German presidency’s draft mandate recommends removing the touchiest issues from the draft Constitution, such as dropping symbols, including the EU’s blue-and-gold, star-spangled flag, its Beethoven anthem, and the motto “United in Diversity,” which many felt hints at the creation of a European super-state.

Merkel has also proposed dropping the title “Constitution” and calling it the “Treaty on the Functioning of the Union” instead.

The proposal recommends giving national parliaments more say in drafting EU laws, a Dutch demand, but recommends that the EU retain essential elements of the aborted Constitution, notably on decision-making and areas where the EU wants more powers

All 27 nations, however, agree that the EU must move quickly to adopt a new rulebook to streamline the complex decision-making system crafted years ago when it was a union of 15.