FOREIGN MINISTER JOE BORG MEETS WITH GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER JOSCHKA FISCHER

Foreign Affairs Minister Joe Borg this morning met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany H.E. Joschka Fischer, in Berlin. During the meeting, discussions focussed on Malta's progress towards accession of the EU and the bilateral relations between the two countries.

Minister Fischer reiterated Germany's support for Malta's accession to the European Union as part of the first enlargement and offered German assistance to Malta in the pre-accession phase. On the bilateral front, the possibility of the finalization of a bilateral agreement on co-operation in the fight against drug trafficking was discussed, as were preparations for the signing of a new Double Taxation Agreement during the forthcoming visit of the Prime Minister to Berlin in March.

While in Berlin the Minister is also expected to meet with The State Secretary, Gunter Pleuger, Mr Hans Ulrich Klose, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Dr Christoph Zopel, State Minister of Foreign Affairs.

He will also be addressing the European Academy in Berlin on "Malta, the EU and Malta's Role in the Mediterranean". (attached please find copy of statement – EMBARGOED until 7.15pm this evening)

Minister Joe Borg is expected to return to Malta on Wednesday, 24^th January.

Speech by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malta, the Hon. Dr. Joe Borg, on ‘Malta, the EU and Malta's role in the Mediterranean'
European Academy – Berlin. 23^rd January 2001

It is a great pleasure for me to be here at this European Academy in Berlin and to have the opportunity to speak to you about Malta's progress towards accession of the European Union and the role Malta can play as a Mediterranean country as a member of the EU. Close relations with both the European Union and the Mediterranean are after all, two pillars on which the foreign policy of Malta rests. As a country that is both European and Mediterranean - due to our geographical location and our cultural links - we have an interest in maintaining the best possible relations with our neighbours to the north and to the south.

Pursuit of membership of the European Union in the next enlargement constitutes Malta's primary foreign policy objective. In the immediate term, it is Government's aim to catch up with the ‘Luxembourg' Group and to thus be well-positioned to be included in the first enlargement.

We have already achieved significant progress in our work towards accession of the European Union. After completion of the screening process in record time by January last year, Malta was able to open negotiations on seventeen chapters of the European Union's acquis, and to close twelve of them. It is our intention to open all the remaining chapters under the Swedish Presidency in the first half of this year, and to close as many of these as possible.

Our objective remains to complete all negotiations during 2002 in line with the Commission's enlargement strategy paper endorsed in Nice. During these negotiations Malta will seek to obtain the necessary transitional periods and special arrangements to ensure the most advantageous package possible. We, together with other candidate countries, have set 1 January 2003 as our working deadline - the point at which Malta will have completed its preparations for membership.

These preparations are now well underway: Parliament is working hard to legislate changes to existing laws that we feel may be enhanced through adherence with the norms and standards of the EU, while administrative capacity is being strengthened at all levels of government. Our social partners are also undertaking their own preparations for membership, and have been involved at all stages of the process.

A Malta-EU Information Centre was established in order to ensure that the general public and different interest groups are well informed about EU matters. The Centre has completed its first, very intensive year of operations, and has helped to achieve Government's aim that the general public should have free access to objective information about every aspect of the European Union and Malta's accession process.

The recent outcomes of Nice have provided us with the assurance that the Union remains seized of the priority towards enlargement. The endorsement by the Union of the call by the European Parliament that candidate countries be participants in the Parliament's elections set for June 2004, is consonant with Malta's own priority to ensure that the accession date is as close to 1 January 2003 as possible and not beyond 1 January 2004.

The priority to enlarge the Union in the near future is clear. The importance of Malta's membership of the Union as a means to reinforce the latter's Mediterranean dimension is also clear. This was summed up by the President of the Commission, Romano Prodi, who while visiting Malta in March last year stated to the Maltese Parliament that enlargement of the EU to include Malta was "key to this Mediterranean approach …. To have Malta in the EU will be of benefit to us all. Malta will make an invaluable contribution to this increasing Mediterranean engagement, especially through your particular regional insight and identity".

The European Union itself has demonstrated its commitment to the Mediterranean - a region where local events reverberate far and wide: an area which, despite being so full of potential, still causes concern due to the negative transboundary effects that developments within it sometimes give rise to.

There is hardly any other area in the world that is as complex and diverse as this international waterway that hosts a variety of cultures, different systems of governments, and three monotheistic faiths. Several of these countries have seen times of greatness and contributed to the wealth of nations through the rich civilisations they produced.

Yet a quick look at history will show us that in the course of the last century the north and south banks of the Mediterranean followed somewhat different paths of development. For much of the first fifty years Europe was at war with itself. At that time the southern littoral was under colonisation in one form or another. After the Second World War, a traumatised Europe started to put its house in order. The Coal and Steel Community gradually led to the European Economic Community and eventually the European Union as we know it today.

On the other hand the emerging independent states of the southern Mediterranean, following decolonisation, found themselves in the midst of a bitter east-west struggle. Many of them depended on their commitment to either of the two superpowers. Yet the end of the Cold War presented them with substantial new challenges which they have been struggling to overcome ever since.

We who live in the middle of this waterway are acutely aware of the disparity that exists between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean. We are also not immune to the challenges and risks that are brought to bear on us through the illegal trafficking of arms, drugs and persons as well as organised crime and clandestine migration.

We do however believe in the processes of inclusion that various organisations and institutions throughout the world have set in motion in order to bridge the divide within this strategically located area. We owe it to ourselves and to our neighbours, to continue to search for peace and stability in this region. We seek to contribute to its well being through our active participation in all its regional fora. It is my Government's policy to intensify Malta's participation in the OSCE, the Euro-Mediterranean process and the Mediterranean Forum. We are also participating in the re-launching of the 5+5 Dialogue which is scheduled to take place in Lisbon later this week. The multiple activities that are currently taking place within these several bodies, even if at times overlapping, we consider as manifest of the region's search for its roots and its determination to successfully deal with its long-standing problems. In the longer perspective we see these initiatives converging into a whole.

Foremost amongst these initiatives is the attempt by the European Union to provide a wholistic approach to the region through the Euro Mediterranean Partnership or Barcelona Process, launched in 1995. Following a period of interest by the European Communities in the region dating back to the sixties and seventies, this new partnership was based on three baskets - political, economic and social - aimed at fostering co-operation between the EU and twelve Mediterranean countries. It constitutes a determined attempt by the EU to seriously invest in its Mediterranean policy.

There are however certain limitations to this initiative that to a large extent are beyond the control of the EU. As I mentioned earlier, the fact that the European countries of the Mediterranean have reached a high level of political stability while their Mediterranean neighbours are still subject to a variety of acute clashes and challenges, severely affects regional co-operation. Although the northern shore is composed of countries that co-operate closely, its southern counterpart has little of the same. Very little south-south co-operation, at a level more profound than the occasional summit, reveals that the myriad negative combinations of sources of tensions in the Mediterranean, such as: cultural and religious diversity; age-old rivalry between regimes; and clashes founded on long-standing nationalistic and ethnic tensions, are hampering any hopes of real co-operation. Whereas the EU partners almost invariably speak with one voice, the leaders of the southern countries often find it difficult to form a common position.

Matters have not been helped by the current turmoil in the Middle East which has undone much of the meticulous work that brought the parties so close in the course of nearly a decade of patient and dedicated negotiation. This clearly weighs very heavily on the prospects of peace, security and stability of the region at large.

The picture is not however, all bleak. The Mediterranean is a region with huge potential. Politically, many strides forward have been taken with the introduction of democratic principles and in many cases the reinforcement of governmental stability. Many countries in the region have also realised the direct link that exists between political stability and economic viability. The EU itself already has free trade agreements with six partner countries in the region, and plans for a free trade area between the EU and the Mediterranean by 2010 are also on the table for discussion. A number of programmes at a social and humanitarian level are also underway and there are signs of increased exchange between the southern Mediterranean states themselves at a grass roots level. Additional action along these lines can only serve to continue the process of breaking down barriers, removing misconceptions and working towards more mutual understanding and respect.

It is for all these reasons that we feel that Malta as part of the Union has an even more important role to play in the Mediterranean. Our complementary European and Mediterranean identities equip us well for this undertaking. It is this fused identity that provides us with a direct link both with the North and the South and allows us to understand the mentalities of both.

To seriously promote the Mediterranean dimension within the EU, we believe that this same understanding must be passed on. We must contribute to the two sides really, truly and genuinely understanding what each other is saying when both are sitting round a table to discuss issues of stability, trade and any number of other subjects. To do this we intend to pursue more intensely the role we have been playing thus far by strengthening our active participation in the various regional initiatives that are underway. We also strongly believe that there is much more that we can be doing ourselves and have therefore resolved to develop new forms of co-operation with our Mediterranean partners.

Amongst these we shall work towards the conclusion of free trade agreements in advance of our accession to the European Union with states lining the North African shore, keeping in mind the free trade area planned for the Euro-Mediterranean space for 2010. Additionally, we hope to construct different modes of co-operation particularly with those Mediterranean states having representation in Malta, with a view to sharing our experiences with them, offering training to their diplomats, business men and youth and devising new forms of intercultural exchange.

Furthermore we are eligible for certain funding under the MEDA regional funds which are specifically geared towards thematic co-operation between European and Mediterranean partners, in fields such as transport, energy and the environment. Action under this banner has already commenced through a number of conferences and training sessions organised in Malta. It is our intention to intensify this process well into the future.

At a parliamentary level we also hope to pursue the CSCM process within the Inter-Parliamentary Union and are actively engaged in the setting up of a Parliamentary Assembly of Mediterranean states within the IPU, which will effectively bring parliamentarians together on a regular basis.

We do not just see Malta as a net beneficiary from the process of EU integration. On the contrary we believe that there is a significant contribution for Malta to make in a variety of fields. The Mediterranean is possibly the most important of these.

Through our involvement in the various regional fora, through our own efforts and in the future as members of the European Union, we feel that we can provide an added voice to promote the development of the Mediterranean and to thus lessen the negative transboundary effects so often felt in the past. The development of the Mediterranean as a region in its own right is crucial in this respect as migration, environmental degradation and international crime are all fuelled by underdevelopment and straitened economic circumstance.

I truly believe that the solutions are there. To a large extent they are present within the region itself, however their implementation can be speeded up through the close co-operation of both the northern and southern Mediterranean states in a partnership of true friends.

Thank you.