TAIEX MALTA WEEK SESSIONS TACKLES MARITIME SAFETY, CONSUMER PROTECTION AND PROGRESS DATABASE

TAIEX Malta Week continued today, with sessions on Maritime Safety, organised with the support of the Malta Maritime Authority, on consumer protection, and on progress database, held at the MITTS Training Centre in Swatar.

The one-day session on maritime safety, which was held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre and well-attended by representatives of the shipping industry in Malta, was addressed by Transport Minister Censu Galea (text appended), Mr Jacques de Dieu of the European Commission, Mr Alain Hoffman of the Luxembourg Ministry of Transport, Mr Arne Mikkelsen of the Danish Maritime Administration, and Mr Lino Vassallo of the Malta Maritime Authority. Mr de Dieu spoke about the aftermath of the Erika accident, and the measures taken at EU level. This was followed by a discussion among those present. Mr Vassallo spoke about maritime safety and the enlargement of the EU.

Dr George Hyzler, parliamentary secretary in the Ministry for Economic Services, addressed the session on consumer protection (press release no. 1601), which was held at the Forum Hotel in St. Andrew's. Officials from the governments of EU member states, from the European Commission, and from European consumer organisations also spoke at that session.

TAIEX Malta Week will end on Friday. TAIEX is the acronym for the Technical Assistance Information Exchange Office of the European Commission, which assists EU-related change in candidate countries. It forms part of the Commission's Enlargement Directorate. Its mandate is to provide technical assistance in the implementation of the Acquis Communautaire, to governments, local councils, associations of business and industry, and legislative bodies.

The contact point for TAIEX in Malta is the Euro-Assistance Coordination Task Force at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Requests for assistance, from NGOs, should be made to this office on telephone number 2292292.

Minister Censu Galea's speech follows…

TAIEX MALTA WEEK
ADDRESS BY THE HON. CENSU GALEA
MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS
MEDITERRANEAN CONFERENCE CENTRE
21 NOVEMBER 2000

Mrs Czarnota, Ladies, and Gentlemen,

It is my pleasure to deliver a short opening address at this one-day maritime safety seminar organised by the European Commission's Technical Assistance Information Exchange Office, the European Union Directorate and the Malta Maritime Authority as part of the TAIEX Malta Week.

The organization of this seminar comes at a crucial time when Malta's application for membership of the European Union is quickly moving towards fulfillment. The Transport Chapter of the acquis communautaire is one of the chapters opened for negotiations with the European Union and maritime transport is an important part of the Union's transport policy. Perhaps, more important still is the maritime safety element of maritime transport. Malta and the European Commission attach great importance to this crucial element, Maritime safety is one of the high priority items of the European Commission's recent and current work programme, and, as a result, the Commission is keen to ensure that future members of the European Union are well prepared to adopt and implement the standards required by Community legislation in this sector.

Malta is fully aware that the only way to preserve its privileged status in world shipping is by advocating, adopting and implementing a quality shipping policy based on international applicable standards established by the International Maritime Organisation. Malta's commitment to quality shipping is not conditioned by its political aspirations. In fact, the Maltese commitment towards quality shipping was the basis of successive Maltese governments. This policy is being implemented even more today.

In line with its established policy, the Government, particularly through the Malta Maritime Authority, has embarked on a legislative and a capacity-building programme aimed at further strengthening its existing capabilities in the maritime sector to better ensure adherence to and implementation of international maritime standards.

Recruitment and training of suitably qualified personnel is one of the corner stones of the programme. It is indeed in this regard that this seminar comes at a crucial and an appropriate time. In this respect, the importance of training, particularly, in a highly dynamic and ever-changing industry, as is the shipping industry, can never be under-estimated. This is more so at a time when existing capabilities are being strengthened.

Before concluding, I would like to thank our guest speakers for affording us some of their valuable time to come over to Malta and assist us in understanding better our future responsibilities within the European Union. I would also like to thank the European Commission for its assistance in organizing this seminar and particularly its TAIEX Office, which is undoubtedly a means to an end – a very important and useful tool for all applicant states on their road towards full membership of the EU.

Finally, the presence of a good cross section of Malta's maritime industry augurs well for the future. I am confident that to get to this future we sail towards safer shipping industry within an enlarged European Union. Maritime Malta will be an integral part of a safer maritime Europe.

I wish all involved a successful seminar.