To support the transport sector, MEPs will vote on a plan on how to etend some of the Covid-19 relief measures in the sector, including exemptions for air slot distribution. 

MEPs Josianne Cutajar and Cyrus Engerer were leading a press conference, discussing and analysing the work carried out at the European Parliament. The main themes discussed involved the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RFF), air transport as well as the new circular economy. 

Speaking about the Covid-19 relief measures in the transport sector, also referred to as the slot waiver, MEP Cutajar stated that “we must have to help the airlines and the workers who depend on them.” 

Cutajar explained that back in March 2020 the ‘use it or lose it’ rule was temporarily suspended. This was done to stop airlines from operating empty flights during the pandemic.

MEPs will vote on a plan on how to return to a normal application of the ‘use it or lose it’ rule for flights, and an informal agreement with EU governments was secured, allowing airlines to use at least 50% of their planned take-off and landing slots for the 2021 summer and winter seasons, so that they can keep them in the following seasons. 

Before the pandemic, it was required that airlines make use of 80% of their planned take-off and landing slots. 

Speaking about the the Recovery and Resilience Facility to curb the effect of the pandemic, MEP Cutajar remarked that this is a very important area because the EU will be helping the states to recover from the pandemic. 

With €672.5 billion in grants and loans available to finance national measures that mitigate the economic and social consequences of the pandemic, Cutajar said that “the RRF is the biggest building block for the Next Generation EU recovery package.” 

Cutajar also spoke about the importance of social media and highlighted that although it can be very beneficial, one can encounter a lot of misinformation and fake news. This was especially evident during the pandemic as many articles, reports and so on were doing the rounds of fake news, only causing panic and havoc amongst people. 

“These can no longer be left to the self-regulation of private companies. I want more checks and balances, as well as additional scrutiny on this matter. We need to a strike a balance on the fact that we are talking about censorship, and also the rights of others,” she said. 

The European Parliament aims to control this issue in relation to fake news and educate people on the use of social media – both young and old – to properly assess and identify the difference between real and fake news. 

During the press conference, MEP Cyrus Engerer analysed topics related to the circular economy, the pandemic as well as the vaccines against Covid-19. 

A circular economy is an alternative to a traditional linear economy (make, use, dispose) in which resources are kept in use for as long as possible, extracting the maximum value from them whilst in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life. 

“A circular economy is important for a country because it places ambitious targets for each country, and for Malta, it paves the way for carbon neutrality 2050,” Engerer said. 

He explained that another milestone which should be considered, when it comes to circular economy, is the aspect of proper labelling of products. 

“We are emphasizing that producers have a clear eco-label for products that give consumers more environmental information on the product, such as, how the product will deteriorate over time. We want to have fewer things thrown away and more products that can be re-used,” he said. 

MEPs call for binding 2030 targets to reduce the footprint created by the use and consumption of materials, covering the whole lifecycle of each product category placed on the EU market. 

With regards to the pandemic and the Covid-19 vaccines, Engerer highlighted the importance of purchasing the Covid-19 vaccine together as a European Union, rather than on an individual level. 

“Obtaining the vaccine together, allowed us to face the problems together as well as solve them together. In this respect, the European Union is yielding better results in the field of health, as well as in the life of a Maltese citizen – we must be united as an EU,” Engerer said. 

He urged EU institutions including the Commission and the European Court of Justice to be transparent and accountable about their Covid-19 vaccine supplies. 

Engerer added that once his website will be online in the near future, it would include a transparency register including a list of all the meetings he holds, and with whom.