EU-MALTA JOINT PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE MEETING

The EU-Malta Joint Parliamentary Committee held its 13th meeting on 8 - 9 May 2000 in St. Julians, Malta, under the joint chairmanship of Mr Louis Galea (NP) and Mr Luigi Cocilovo (IT - EPP-ED). This was the first JPC in Malta after the European elections in June 1999.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Joe Borg addressed the meeting stating that the first phase of the screening exercise had been successfully completed and that the basic objective for Malta was to be in the first EU-enlargement. The Government was confident that it could negotiate the right conditions for Malta's membership of the Union and that the promised referendum on the result of the negotiations to be held in 2002 would find a very strong support of the Maltese electorate.

Ambassador Jose Paulouro das Neves, representing the Presidency-in-Office of the EU stated that the enlargement of the EU was a top priority for the Portuguese Presidency and welcomed the progress made by Malta which was acknowledged to be one of the most advanced among the candidates of the "Helsinki countries" and the only one which already fulfills all the economic criteria. Following the ratification of the results of the Intergovernmental Conference, the European Union should be in a position to welcome new member states from the end of 2002 as soon as they had demonstrated their ability to assume the obligations of membership and the negotiating process had been fully completed.

Mr Giorgio Boggio, Head of Delegation of the European Commission in Malta, stated that the Helsinki Summit had introduced the "differentiation" principle whereby the different negotiating countries would progress at their own speed, according to the respective stage of their preparedness. He underlined that Malta was better prepared than the other candidate countries with 8 chapters already opened. To support Malta for the adoption and implementation of the EU-legislation, the Commission has allocated 38 million Euro for the period 2000-2004. 130.5 million Euro had already been allocated for Malta under the 4 financial protocols from 1978-1999. With the completion of the IGC process in 2002, enlargement could take place in 2003, he said. Mr Boggio echoed the words of Commission President Prodi when he stated that the European Union had opened its door to Malta believing that Malta's accession would bring mutual benefits for both Malta and the EU.

Mrs Ursula Stenzel, the European Parliament Rapporteur on Malta's application for membership, emphasised that EU-membership would be an important opportunity for the today's youth in particular, and it was important for Malta to maintain the momentum of its negotiating timetable. She indicated that her forthcoming report would give a clear signal of encouragement to Malta as it moved towards EU-membership.

The JPC welcomed the extent of Malta's preparation for the accession negotiations. Malta is already regarded as a front runner for the EU membership in the first phase with 8 chapters opened. The JPC also welcomed the decision of the Maltese Government to hold a referendum when negotiations were completed, thus ensuring full democratic support for accession.

The JPC also focussed on the potential which INTERREG afforded for Malta and regretted that more had not been achieved until now from this important regional development programme for both existing member states and candidate countries. The meeting also considered Malta's participation in other EU programmes during the pre-accession stage, notably the MEDA programme and the Euro-Med Partnership process. The fact was welcomed that Malta would benefit for the first time, this year, from the EU programmes on education (Socrates), training (Leonardo) and youth as well as the programme which facilitaded student exchange programmes (Erasmus). These programmes provide an important and new way of investing in the future of the younger generation and therefore on the development of Malta's future as a nation.

The Euro-Med Partnership process was also debated. Many regretted the loss of momentum since the Barcelona Conference on the subject, although it was stated that Malta was well positioned to play a key role, because of its strategic position in the Mediterranean, in the relaunching of the process.

The JPC was briefed by Mr Ward Beysen (B - ELDR) on the opening phase of the EU-Intergovernmental Conference which was to redraw the institutional contours of an enlarged European Union.

The JPC agreed that in the process of its regular activity of assessing and facilitating enlargement negotiations between Malta and the EU it would look in more detail at the shipping and maritime sectors which are known to be a priority issue of the forthcoming French EU Presidency.

The next meeting of the JPC will be held at the European Parliament in Autumn 2000.