Malta welcomes the EU Hellenic Presidency's strong focus on migration and maritime issues, the foreign minister, George Vella stated last Friday.
In a series of unscripted comments, Dr Vella was reacting to the Presidency presentation made by the Greek ambassador to Malta, Alexandros Rallis at a public dialogue organised by MEUSAC. This followed the tabling of the Presidency programme at the European Parliament two days earlier by the Greek Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras.
The two issues figure among the programme's four headline priorities alongside Growth-Jobs-Cohesion and Further Integration of EU-Euro zone.
Dr Vella also hailed the Mediterranean character of the 2014 presidencies. “We have had extensive contacts with the Greek authorities, as well as with the next EU president, Italy, on issues of immediate concern to us and I think we have influenced their agendas. A Mediterranean group has been set up comprising Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Malta – meeting before each Council to align our positions. We seek to not only deepen but extend the EU by trying to instil the values of democracy, rule of law, and justice into North African nations, helping them find stabilisation”.
Under Migration-Borders-Mobility, Ambassador Rallis echoed Prime Minister Samaras' call for “an overall management of this purely European problem, solidarity among partners, shared responsibility for the protection of the common European border, proportionality in burden sharing and – of course – the engagement of third countries from which migratory flows originate or pass through to get to us”.
Positive aspects of a comprehensive migration management to the benefit of boosting growth would be highlighted, in line with the 2012 revision of the 2005 EU Global Approach on Migration and Mobility. The programme also calls for the updating of the 2012 "EU Action on Migratory Pressures – A Strategic Response.”
Dr Vella welcomed the Greek holistic approach as well as “the very small step forward, when the last General Affairs Council committed the EU to adopting the recommendations of the Task Force Mediterranean, endowing it with a time frame within six months and overseeing its implementation. Malta is all for helping these poor people, but we are saying help us to help these people obtain a better life.”
In a comment from the floor, Arnold Cassola, chair of Alternattiva Demokratika, emphasised that no progress was possible without a drastic change to the 2003 Dublin II Convention “so those who land in Malta can go to other EU countries after applying for refugee status. Is the Greek Prime Minister going to try to persuade the EU Prime Ministers blocking revision of this treaty?”. Dr Vella conceded that “unless there is such an agreement, we will still be at Square One.” He also emphasised that such migrants were 'irregular' not 'illegal'.
“As a maritime nation Malta fully understands Greece's ideas, we have to exploit what is around us, make the best out of it”, Dr Vella continued. The programme calls the mainstreaming of maritime issues across all Presidency priorities with a comprehensive text to be submitted to the June Council. This document would combine an updating of the current Integrated Maritime Policy, new initiatives as well as elements of the forthcoming Commission-European External Action Service Communication on a European Maritime Security Strategy.
The Hellenic presidency proposals include a Marine and Maritime Agenda for Growth and Jobs underpinning the Commission's “Blue Growth, opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth”; support to the Commission's plans to adopt a directive to improve maritime spatial planning and integrated coastal regions management; an updated EU maritime transport strategy to 2018; development of cooperation between Coast Guards; adoption of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (ΕUSAIR) covering maritime and marine growth, transport, environment, and tourism; seaborne migration; maritime and coastal tourism. To support the Commission's preparation of a communication on the latter, Greece will organise a high level conference on maritime and coastal tourism.
Key Presidency actions under Growth-Jobs-Creation will include continuing the debate on the Commission's green paper on the long-term financing of the European economy, a mid-term review of 'Europe 2020', implementing the 2012 Pact for Growth and Employment, in particular the Initiative for Youth Employment and the Youth Guarantee, the co-ordination of economic/employment/social policies within the 'European Semester' process – which involves an extended role for both the European and national parliaments. The Presidency will also foster progress on the Long-term Investment Funds Regulation on the financing of infrastructure projects and SMEs.
Under Further Integration of the EU-Eurozone the Hellenic presidency will emphasise policies and actions to remedy and restore initial deficiencies in the euro area architecture unveiled by the recent crisis - preserving the integrity of the common currency on a solid and sustainable basis and ensuring financial stability. EMU deepening will take place fully respecting the Single Market, through a procedure open to non-Eurozone member-states.
The banking union will be consolidated by the adoption of the Single Resolution Mechanism Regulation before the European Parliament is dissolved in April. Implementation of new economic governance mechanisms will be furthered by facilitating discussions on establishing Partnerships for Growth, Jobs and Competitiveness and deepening the social dimension of the European Monetary Union.
With 'Europe: Our Common Quest' as the motto of its presidency, the programme advocates strengthening the institutional structure to ensure enhanced transparency, accountability, national ownership and credibility towards the citizens of Europe.
As stated by Prime Minister Samaras, “Our Union is not a ‘luxury’! It is a vital necessity for all of us. United, we can export stability and security from Europe to the rest of the world. Separated, we will only import insecurity and destabilisation from the rest of the world to our own house. It is the future of the generations to come; of our children and the ones that will come after them. It is precisely this common future that we are shaping up today. And it is this future that unites us, perhaps more than anything else”.
During the Commission's formal visit to Athens on 8 January, its president, Jose Manuel Barroso warned: “the reality is that we are on the right path but we have not yet put the crisis behind us. We must show determination and perseverance. We owe it to those for whom the recovery is not yet within reach.”