At the beginning of this month, Greece assumed the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.  It took over from Lithuania, the other member of the Trio together with Ireland, and will be handing over the reins to the Italians on the 1 July, 2014.

Apart from the work load inherited from the previous Presidency, each country holding the chair of the Council comes in with its own work-programme and, even more important, the policy areas that will be given priority focus.  Greece has identified three policy areas that fall under three headings namely (1) Growth-Jobs-Cohesion (2) Integration of the EU and the Euro-zone and (3) Migration-Borders-Mobility.

All three areas are of direct relevance and importance to Malta.  

The generation of growth and the creation of employment opportunities are the cornerstone of our economic policy. Since taking office, the Labour Government has concentrated its efforts towards identifying new initiatives and opportunities that will create wealth.  We have also been innovative when it comes to new projects by thinking outside the box.

New projects have been launched since March 2013.  These will contribute towards economic growth and employment opportunities and include the building of the new Delimara Power Station fired by gas that will make it possible for the Government to reduce the water and electricity rates as promised in the electoral programme, the various expressions of interest for development projects such as the one at the former Marsa Shipbuilding site and for land reclamation plans, just to mention a few.

We have also allocated substantial EU funds under different schemes - in particular the Jeremie Initiative - to support Small and Medium sized Enterprises which are important economic and employment drivers that generate economic growth.  Such schemes enable them to embark on new investment initiatives, branch out into other fields of activity and create new jobs in the process. Funds have also been provided for other initiatives like the Digital Hub project and the Safi Aviation Park

These efforts are bearing fruit as manifested by figures issued by the National Office of Statistics. According to the NSO, the Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd Quarter of 2013 amounted to €1,878 million, an increase of 3.8% over the corresponding period last year. We have also registered an increase in full time employment. These numbers prove that we are moving on the right track and succeeding in our plans. 

Again, according to the NSO in August 2013, full-time employment did increase by 2.6% when compared to the corresponding month in 2012. This is a win-win situation with a drop in the number of unemployed and an increase in the number of people in employment. When compared to what is happening in other EU Member States this is an excellent record. We have in fact the fourth lowest unemployment rate among the 28 EU Member States.

In relation to the policy area dealing with EU integration and the Euro-zone, during the next six months Member States will be working towards the strengthening of their economic and fiscal policies in order to avoid a repetition of the financial crisis that gripped Europe recently leading some countries to seek the financial support of EU Member States in the form of bailouts.  In the process we need to ensure that the social dimension of our economic policies will not only be safeguarded but also strengthened.

As is to be expected we shall be following closely the work of the Greek Presidency in the policy area dealing with migration and border control in view of our own negative experiences with illegal migration. Following the strong stand taken by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat at the October EU Summit, Malta has not only managed to put the issue of illegal migration on the agenda of the last European Council meeting but also to obtain concrete results.  There is now a commitment by the European Union that the operational decisions that were proposed by the Task Force for the Mediterranean which was set up specifically to address the problems association with illegal migration, will be implemented within a timeframe to be determined by the European Commission and which have to be finalised by June 2014.  

Contrary to what the Nationalist Opposition has been saying, from the last European Union Council Summit Malta achieved the objectives it aimed for before the meeting.  Unfortunately, even on this issue, which should be something that stretches beyond partisan politics, the Nationalist Opposition is behaving in a very negative manner instead of giving its support to the Government.

Greece has also taken the initiative to give special attention to the Mediterranean during its Presidency.  In cooperation and coordination with the subsequent Italian Presidency, Greece wants 2014 to be the “European Year of the Mediterranean”.  This initiative should encourage EU Member States with a coastline on the Mediterranean to give Mediterranean issues their utmost attention. These States have a responsibility to ensure that in the Mediterranean, peace and prosperity reign supreme.

I wish our Greek colleagues a successful Presidency.

Dr. Borg is the Parliamentary Secretary for EU Presidency 2017 and EU Funds