The Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD) needs a better structure, parliamentary secretary Andy Ellul said during parliament on Tuesday.
Replying to a question by PN MP Claudette Buttigieg about what kind of reform needs to happen for the MCESD to become a better consultative body, Ellul said that despite all the positive outcomes that have derived from meetings with professionals representing various sectors, he believes that there should be a better structure.
Ellul said that although the Labour Party has only been in government for a month, he has started to analyse through several meetings with stakeholders, the kind of framework with which the body works.
He added that during the pandemic the MCESD has proven its strength as it has shown from what the positive results it had derived from the social dialogue.
Speaking about a meeting which happened on Tuesday, he said that the meeting was very interesting and productive. He added that he believes that MCESD can become a body of knowledge which is not only sought after during a crisis situation such as the current Covid-19 one and Ukrainian induced European inflation influx, but that such knowledge derived from an insightful body should be used to improve situations of everyday life.
Ellul added that the body has been allocated some €80,000 in funds in order to train MCESD employees and professionals. Despite this he said that the body also has its own funds in order to engage external professionals in order to help with its workload when needed.
Asked to give a summary of a European meeting, where the Future of Europe was discussed, Ellul said that migration was discussed.
He added that during his intervention during the meeting, which took place in Strasbourg, Ellul said that he spoke about the need for Europe to take into consideration the size of Malta when taking important decisions regarding migration.
Ellul said that currently other European countries are in the know of how Malta has been dealing with such situations as they are now understanding what kind of challenges migration has been presenting for countries in the Mediterranean.