Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said the manifesto was based on the electoral manifesto of the European People’s Party (EPP), of which the PN is a member.
However the PN manifesto was highlighting the areas from the EPP manifesto which are the most important for Malta, he said.
“These are the matters on which the PN MEPs will be working as their priority in the EP,” Dr Gonzi said.
He said that the choice that the Maltese people have to make on June 12 was only possible because Malta joined the EU on 1 May, otherwise “we would have remained watching on the sidelines”.
“The five people we will be choosing for the EP must have the strongest voice possible. This can be only achieved if we have the backing of the EPP.
“If Malta has the need for support, it will find the family of the EPP behind it to give its support,” Dr Gonzi said.
Asked whether the EPP was able to pass resolutions in the EP on its own, he said that the EPP was the strongest party in the EP with 295 out of the current 787 seats.
He said, though, that the EPP often works with the Liberal-Democrats to pass resolutions in the EP.
Taking again the occasion to harp again on Alternattiva Demokratika, Dr Gonzi said that the Greens in the EP only had 47 seats and were thus “absolutely small”.
He said that the Greens usually voted with the PES in the EP since the PES, with 232 members, was unable to pass resolutions in the EP on its own steam.
Dr Gonzi also said that while the EPP had MEPs from all 25 member states, the Greens were not represented in 12 member states with regard to MEPs.
Asked by The Malta Independent on Sunday on what was the record of the EPP with regards to votes in the EP regarding abortion, Dr Gonzi said: “The record of the EPP is that where there were documents in the final vote in the plenary assembly, the EPP voted against.”
“There was one particular document and in the moment when that document came to the vote in the EP, the EPP voted against,” he said.
Dr Gonzi denied that government was postponing taking tough decisions, mentioning as examples the tariff hikes at Gozo Channel, the restructuring at Air Malta and the recent budget cuts.
The PN manifesto says that the electorate should vote for the PN candidates in the EP elections because “they always believed and have been long believing in Europe”.
“If in the referendum you have voted so that Malta joins the EU, your vote in the EP elections should be a vote to ensure that you now reap all the fruit of membership,” the manifesto states.
It calls for investment in human resources, which are “Malta’s sole resource”, pledging that the PN MEPs will get the best for Malta in education, training and IT, which are the foundations on which the economic progress in the next few years will be based.
The manifesto calls for the best programme so that the Maltese economy continues creating jobs, pledging that the PN MEPs will lead so that wealth and standard of living will rise while creating opportunities for those workers who need them most.
Unlike the PES and the Greens, who want more regulation by government in the economy, the EPP will provide the right climate for enterprise to grow, Dr Gonzi said.
On the environment, the PN manifesto calls for sustainable development and pledges that the PN MEPs will lead to a tangible improvement in Malta’s environmental standards, also through tapping of EU funds.
The PN manifesto pledges that Malta will maintain its full identity and all its traditions, while insisting on the EU’s policy of solidarity between different regions.
Finally, the PN manifesto pledges a greater role for Malta in projects and programmes in favour of peace and security in the Mediterranean.
The PN manifesto was approved by the party’s executive council last Thursday and will be put for discussion by the general council next Saturday.