The argument between the Malta government and the European Commission (and as well the International Monetary Fund) about the energy subsidies that the govenrment has continued to provide, is in and of itself an interesting topic, independently of which side one agrees with.

The government claims that in the context of a Maltese economy that is micro in size and island bound, the subsidies are appropriate for they compensate effectively for the disadvantages that the country and its population face whe competing for resources and markets with other locations. They are containing cost inflation and propping up the competitivity of the island’s production. Meanwhile, the resulting burdens on public finance are sustainable and no budget deficit is being assumed that cannot eventually be plugged.

The European Commission is arguing, that as designed nd, the subsidies are too wasteful. Energy prices in Malta need to reflect international market prices since otherwise, (as is happening) use of energy use ends up becoming excessively stimulated, especially in “luxury” consumption. Nor should subsidies be equally to the advantage of both high earners and “the poor”, but they should be targeted to support people with relatively lower incomes. Also, contrary to the government, the Commission doubts whether subsidies in their current format can be sustainable. 

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INFORMATION

An anchor of democratic governance is that the government provides a public account of how it is spending the people’s money. For its part, the role of the Opposiiton is to raise issues about which it can criticise the government of the day, not least with regard to the management of public expenditures.

It is obvious and natural that questions are made in Parliament with the aim of finding grounds for criticising the government. Questions are sometimes put at delicate moments for the government, like when for instance, information requested is featuring in ongoing negotiations with third parties and it would be dicey to make it public too “early”. In such cases the government would have every reason and justfication not to divulge the information asked for.

However it does not make sense if the same procedure is followed in other cases for no matter which reason. Such an approach contradicts the transparency that should be the hallmark of any genuine democracy.

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YOUNG PEOPLE

In Europe (Malta included) great efforts are being made to promote a wider interest in political activism among young people. Such efforts are praiseworthy for without renewal, political processes stagnate and end up increasingly at odds with the lives led by citizens.

Still there is a cruel irony in these developments. For while the encouragement to young people to participate in politics continues to be promoted, the young in the European population have been declining in number. All indications are this this will persist. A challenge that will arise for the European populations of the future is how work and benefits are going to be apportioned between the  generations. On this topic, the voice of young people will be numerically and politically weaker than that of older generations. Likely the latter will be less willing to give up their leading roles in society than the older generations that came before them.