Minister Pullicino was reacting to comments the Labour leader made on Saturday during a press conference at which the MLP launched its proposals for the agricultural sector.

In a statement yesterday, Mr Pullicino said that the MLP proposals were full of contradictions. On one hand, the MLP was saying that its pre-election predictions vis-a-vis the EU are now becoming a reality, while on the other hand it is saying that “we have to work to exploit the opportunities offered by EU membership.”

These opportunities, Mr Pullicino continued, are the fruit of the Nationalist government’s work. The government not only drew up a plan to integrate the local market in the Union’s common agricultural policy, but has also made an unprecedented financial and institutional commitment to the sector.

The fact that the Opposition leader said that government had no plan for the sector can mean one of two things: either that Dr Sant and the party’s spokesman for the sector Noel Farrugia have not yet seen the membership treaty that deals with Malta’s integration with the EU’s common agricultural structure, or that the party is again trying to deceive farmers by telling them that Malta can have an agricultural policy that goes against that of the EU, said Mr Pullicino.

Dr Sant’s partnership proposal – declined twice by the Maltese electorate – would have meant the country being forced to remove the levies without receiving any form of compensation, he said.

“It seems that Dr Sant and Mr Farrugia have forgotten that Malta managed to negotiate a plan that includes a scheme of subsidies that compensates for the removal of levies.”

This does not mean that the subsidies are the culmination of the ministry’s work, he said. On the contrary, in line with the plan for rural development agreed with the EU, the ministry has introduced a number of measures that are beneficial to Maltese and Gozitan farmers.

Minister Pullicino also pointed out that local consumers gained from the removal of levies. The competition that ensued helped to lower prices and improve quality. In this connection, the ministry is committed towards the implementation of marketing standards for a number of agricultural products. This will be done in the pitkali vegetable market, where there are plans for it to be run by farmers’ associations.

“These are the initiatives that are helping local produce compete in the single market,” the minister said. “In the coming weeks the ministry will issue more statements showing that the MLP’s document is completely detached from Malta’s reality as a member of the EU.”