Last week in one of my visits to Gozo, I pointed out that Malta should be making better use of the Juncker plan for strategic investment for projects such as the promised permanent link to Gozo. The Juncker plan, also called EFSI, was devised to trigger large-scale infrastructural investments needing a capital boost. That should be music to our ears given that we seem to becoming an oversized population living with an undersized infrastructure, starting from our road network and a fully booked Freeport just to mention the obvious ones.

Yet, Malta is at the bottom of the graph of EU countries tapping into the Juncker plan. We are number 28 of 28. Not in absolute numbers, but per capita.

Parliamentary Secretary for EU funds, Dr Aaron Farrugia’s response to my observation reported in this newspaper’s sister daily confirms that the government has failed to capitalise on the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). Farrugia points out that the government does not need to make use of EFSI given the country’s financial stability and the lack of Maltese investors willing to pursue million euro large-scale projects. Well. We had a few multi-million private projects promoted by this government. The DB tower in St Julian’s and the gas power station come to mind. Since when have the Maltese shunned the opportunity of secured investments? Moreover, given the flaunted attraction of “high-value net individuals”, I would have presumed that finding investors would have been easier than that.

Truth is that this last place in the graph is symptomatic of a government that has become over-reliant on quick-fix boosts to the economy, such as the controversial passport-selling scheme. The quick buck is good, but it should not replace the harder job of looking ahead with strategy to invest in the real economy of these islands.

The present short-sighted economic policy will not help us in our endeavour to attract a good EU funding package on the level of that secured by former Prime Minister Gonzi to the tune of €1.128 billion. Our citizens have voted for Europe as a purveyor of rights and progress in this country. Overall, we have done well in Europe. But we should do much better. The new spring promised by Eddie Fenech Adami cannot cease now. There is more for us to bring home.

To do this we must be much more militant in Europe. Farrugia’s reaction points to the difficulty of making the Juncker plan work for Malta. Its workings are indeed not easy to master. It has been calqued for realities beyond, far from Valletta or Victoria. This element is also central in the reaction of MEP Alfred Sant from Brussels this week where he points out that using the Juncker plan in Malta is difficult due to the way in which this is designed and structured.

MEP Sant’s analysis is correct, and it points to the government’s failure in adapting the fund to our needs in Malta and Gozo. After all, our government is sitting at the table of the European Council of Ministers, amending and approving the EU funding instruments proposed by Juncker. 

Not all is lost. The mentioned Juncker plan is soon to be transformed into InvestEU, and it will once again be on the drawing board for Malta to adapt it to our needs. This new programme should be a wider and more flexible funding tool which can be put to good use in Malta for large-scale investments enabling us to do the quantum leap into the 21st century. The rail transport system proposed by the Nationalist Party in the last general election can be a valid first candidate for this programme.

Are we ready to reap Europe’s benefits to the full? In my 16 years in the EU institutions, I have assisted politicians bring about considerable change through sectorial legislation and mentality shifts. I have learnt that there is only one way to do this: sheer determination shared with a team of like-minded allies.

When it comes to Malta, our first allies should be the Maltese, all of them, across political boundaries. A national effort including the government, the Opposition and all the six MEPs in the European Parliament is needed if we are to secure a good funding package to continue Malta’s progress thanks to Europe. The ball is in the government’s court. Is it ready to play?

 Dr Agius is a PN candidate for the European Parliament elections, Former Head of the European Parliament Office and Cabinet member of the President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani