Government has pledged to make the enhancement of the environment as a focal point in its decision making. Our objective is to promote sustainable solutions to environmental problems in order to increase the social and economic value of the natural environment because it strongly believes that a healthy environment will lead to a healthier life for Maltese citizens and can make Malta and Gozo better places to live in.

 The Labour Administration is placing in the forefront sectors such as air quality, water conservation, waste management, waste water treatment and other related areas. We are developing new policies and initiatives in these sectors.  Very significantly, this Government is in the process of creating a structure that focusess solely on environmental protection and completely distinct from development planning. We are also introducing legislation that safeguards the environment and that allocates financial resources to implement infrastructural projects in the environmental field.

Before joining the European Union, Malta had to transpose a great deal of legislation into Maltese law. This meant assuming legal obligations under various Chapters or Acquis.  The second most difficult Chapter in terms of obligations and challenges after agriculture was the Environmental Acquis. Malta was required to meet certain stringent environmental standards and obligations in various sectors which, at the time of accession, it was not in a position to meet because of lack of institutions as well as human and financial resources.  A number of obligations in certain areas like waste management, both solid and liquid, were so stringent that Malta requested and was granted transition periods over a number of years to build the necessary infrastructure to prepare itself to be in a position to be legally compliant once the legislation came into force. A typical example was the building of the South Sewage Treatment Infrastructure which was financed through the European Regional Fund for Development and which enabled Malta to be in line with the Waste Water Directive.

It is common knowledge that since accession in 2004, Malta has made great strides forward in safeguarding the environment.   Acknowledging that huge investments were needed for accession countries - especially small states like Malta - to become compliant with EU environmental legislation, tens of thousands of millions of EU Funds were made available to countries to address environmental issues. 

Although considerable progress has been gradually made over the years to reach a higher level of environmental standards, there is still a long way to go.  Government is very conscious of the fact that we need to manage the environment in a sustainable way meaning making use of resources to meet our needs while at the same time safeguarding the needs of future generations.  

We need to continue to invest millions of Euros of both national and EU funds in environmental infrastructural projects in order to meet the objective of a healthy environment.  Keeping this in mind, Government has decided to allocate substantial amount of EU funds over the next seven years to safeguard the environment.  In fact, as I announced during a Press Conference last Tuesday as part of the “Government that works” series, this Government has decided to allocate the sum of €200 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Cohesion Funds (CF) from the funding period 2014-2020 towards projects that will strengthen the environment. 

I made this announcement during a visit to a new Civic Amenity Site at Ta’ Qali which is being financed by around €3.8 million from the ERDF. Work on this site was stepped up significantly in the past 12 months and is now nearing completion.  Once in operation, it will be the sixth Civic Amenity Site, including the one in Gozo, where members of the public could bring and discard a variety of household and bulky waste instead of dumping it in the countryside. It will also cater for green waste generated by the Pitkali Market.

The €200 million of ERDF funds will be directed, amongst others, towards waste management, treatment and conservation of water, conservation of valleys as well as schemes for the generation of clean energy.   The challenges to meet deadlines on ongoing projects will always be there and we are committed to deliver in time.  As for waste management, these funds will compliment the initiatives and plans identified in the Waste Management Plan for the Maltese Islands launched last January by my Cabinet colleague, the Minister for Sustainable Development and Climate Change.

This is just the beginning.  More investments in the environmental sector are in the pipeline.  In the coming weeks, we plan to start consultations regarding the Operational Programmes for the financing period 2014-2020 and environmental projects will definitely feature high on our priorities.

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