The businessman told Dr Gonzi that he had received no applications from the Employment and Training Corporation in two weeks. After running a check from his office, Dr Gonzi said “it appears that of the 7,500 or so people registered, none are carpenters”.

He said: “Is it possible that we now have the luxury not to send people for vacancies that arise simply because they are not registered for that kind of work?”

The prime minister was addressing a meeting held at the Nationalist Party club in Zebbug. The meeting is part of the party’s local council and European Parliament electoral campaigns. Besides Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg and Secretary General Joe Saliba, four of the EP candidates and a number of LC candidates from the neighbouring localities were present.

Dr Gonzi that as of 1 May, people started experiencing the positive change that European Union membership brought with it. He was referring to the recent “drastic” cuts in the prices of some grocery products.

He explained that during the week he had visited a number of stores and grocers where, he said, he had the opportunity to see this for himself.

Dr Gonzi said small- and medium-sized enterprises had an important role to play in the local economy. He said that while they employ few people, there are thousands of them, thus making a significant contribution to the local economy.

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He also mentioned VF Malta Ltd, a company that recently hit the headlines after laying off a number of its workers. He said he had information that the company was re-employing workers following some developments related to EU accession.

Dr Gonzi stressed that the coming EP election was not like regular general elections where the determining factor were the One votes, he appealed to the electorate to vote for all the PN candidates from 1 - 8 saying that only PN candidates could truly represent the interests of Maltese people in the EP.

Dr Borg, who also addressed the meeting, criticised the Malta Labour Party, saying that it did not really believe in the opportunities the EU provided and as a result was not in a position to represent the interests of the Maltese. He mentioned that an MLP EP candidate had attended a recent meeting organised by the Front Maltin Inqumu, describing them as the local eurosceptics.

He said “we are pleased the MLP is changing direction but its heart is not really in it”.

Dr Borg insisted on the consistency of the PN candidates, saying that “in the coming election the people had to choose between weathervanes and consistent candidates, like the PN candidates”.

Mr Saliba mirrored this point, saying that the MLP was contesting the EP elections out of necessity as it had originally done with the local council elections.

He announced that the party’s executive would be approving the electoral manifesto of the European Popular Party (EPP) – of which the PN is a member – on Saturday. He explained that the manifesto included input from the other EU countries that form part of the EPP. Adding that in a similar way the manifestos of these countries included the PN’s input.

Like the previous speakers, Mr Saliba stressed the influence the EPP held over the EP. While stating that everyone had a voice in the EP, he said that it stands to reason that the party with the largest number of chairs had the biggest opportunity to influence the direction policies took.

He mentioned the European Green’s initiative to introduce an eco-tax on tourism. Stating that the PN did not approve of such a tax, he expressed himself confident that this law will not pass. He said the PN had already started the process to lobby against the law immediately after the June elections.