My present role of parliamentarian in the Italian Parliament, in representation of Italian citizens living in Europe, including Malta is, I believe, a strong learning experience not only because of the novelty of this situation (it is the first time in Italian parliamentary history that 12 migrant MPs have been elected to represent Italian migrants all over the world) but also because every day that passes I gather further political experience which, I sincerely hope, in the near future can be put at the disposal of Alternattiva Demokratika and the Maltese and Gozitan electorate, when we Greens are chosen to represent them in the Maltese and European Parliaments.

The budget itinerary in Italy is such a different exercise from the Maltese one. In Malta, it is the one party government that decides the entire contents of the budget, which is then announced to the public. The Opposition MPs are offered a 15-day “virtual” debate during which they can give vent to their frustrations. At the end of this academic debate the budget is approved as the one party government of the day had basically decided in the first place.

Italy is the exact opposite of Malta. Instead of a one party government you have an 11 party coalition. Which means, a cacophony of voices rather than the monotone (and monotonous) single voice in the Maltese government. Of course, too many voices might be a bit too much to handle, but I would prefer the confusion of multiple thoughts and feelings to the one and only dominant voice any day.

The advantage of having a coalition rather than a one party government can be seen in the forward looking attitude of the Italian budget, despite the cumbersome proceedings needed to attain the final result. What have the Italian Greens contributed to this year’s Italian budget? Let’s have a look.

The first measure concerns the housing needs of the Italians. We Greens have given Prodi the necessary impetus to take the bull by the horns: less income tax for those who rent their property; fiscal incentives for those young people looking for a first home; part subsidies to those families that live below the poverty line in order to be able to afford a decent lodging. Basically, a total of two billion euros have been devoted to these incentives in order to make housing a bit more accessible to the people who cannot afford it.

But just having decent lodging is not enough. We Greens have persuaded Prodi that any future housing units have to be energy efficient. We Greens are bringing about a revolution in house building in Italy, a revolution that will not only improve the quality of life but will also contribute to saving energy and reducing electricity bills for each family. In fact, from now on, no building permit will be issued in Italy without an energy saving certification, which guarantees that there will be total energy efficiency in the building, and no loss of heating. Each housing unit has to guarantee an autonomous production, through sun powered photovoltaic units for example, of at least one kilowatt.

These energy efficient measures will bring about the creation of many new jobs in Italy, especially in the field of sustainable building practices. Who knows if MEPA and the Housing Authority in Malta can benefit in some way from the Italian Green building experience, thus sparing our country some of the monstrosities that are mushrooming all over Malta and Gozo?

But the Green imprint does not stop here. After building energy housing units, how should we proceed with the finishing in order to decrease emissions of CO2? The Italian 2008 “Green” budget spells it out clearly: as from the year 2010 it will no longer be possible to buy the old incandescent light bulbs for our homes. These have to be substituted by energy saving bulbs in the course of the next two years. Moreover, it will be compulsory for all white goods (fridges, washing machines, dishwashers and so on) to have a total switch off mechanism. These two measures on their own will save Italian households a total of six billion kilowatt hours (kwh), thus preventing four million tonnes of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere.

The year 2010 will also mark the withdrawal from the market of those white goods that burn most energy (the non A marked white goods). These will be totally replaced in shops by ecological white goods. Moreover, incentives will be given to those households that install high-energy efficient water heaters in place of the present high consumption ones.

The Greens in the Italian government have also convinced their allies to invest 10 million euros for the development of the Italian high tech industry that specialises in the production of hydrogen, another new form of clean energy. Another priority pushed by the Greens is the setting up of an institute and a fund on “water saving”. Water is slowly but surely becoming one of the dwindling resources in the world, especially in the south, like Malta, where the effects of global warming will be even more devastating. The aim of the institute is to avoid the dispersion of our water sources.

The Italian budget also provides for a new norm that will allow for the demolition of eco-monsters in areas of UNESCO interest. So, while in Malta we build a permanent gigantic tent under the skyline of Mdina, or the horrible Midi Tigne cement blocks that ruin the Valletta skyline, or the modern apartment blocks at the Vittoriosa Waterfront, or the ghastly blocks in the Chambray fortifications, the Italian government – also thanks to the Greens – will be setting up a 45 million euro fund to pull down the cement monsters built by the building developers’ mafia in areas like the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, the Cinque Terre Park in the Liguria region, and so on.

Another 150 million euros are destined for the reforestation of areas within built cities and agglomerations, and for the building of new parks and green lungs in those cities that suffer most from traffic and smog.

These are just some of the measures the Greens in government in Italy today have managed to put on the agenda in a concrete way. The 2008 Italian budget therefore becomes the greenest budget of the last 15 years.

A new government led either by Lawrence Gonzi or Alfred Sant will draw up the next Maltese budget in less than a year’s time. The Maltese and Gozitans have a clear choice ahead of them: they can either entrust Lawrence Gonzi to draw up the budget on his own, surrounded by his arrogant band of PN men; or else they can entrust Alfred Sant to mess up the next budget on his own, as he did in 1997, surrounded by his financial gurus (sic!).

There is a third option: the Maltese and Gozitans can vote into the Maltese Parliament, deputies representing Alternattiva Demokratika. This would assure one and all that we would influence the next budget in a Green direction.

The general election will be held in a few weeks’ time and the Maltese voter will be free to choose.

It is up to every voter to decide whether to continue with a two party Parliament or bring about a cultural revolution by electing Greens to parliament. The choice is in your hands.

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Arnold Cassola , former Secretary General of the European Green Party, is a Maltese Green MP in the Italian Parliament, elected in the European constituency in Prime Minister Romano Prodi’s list.