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SPEECH BY THE ACTING PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER FOR SOCIAL POLICY, THE HON. DR. LAWRENCE GONZI, ON THE OCCASION OF THE OFFICIAL VISIT OF H.E. MS ANNA DIAMANTOPOULOU, MEMBER OF THE EU COMMISSION RESPONSIBLE FOR EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS
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26/10/2001
26/10/2001
Your Excellency
Ladies and Gentlemen:
| It is a pleasure for the Maltese Government to | welcome Commissioner Diamantopoulou to Malta at a time which I can best describe as exciting for us all. Her Excellency’s visit coincides with some vital initiatives which my government will be launching in a few days and which will represent a quality leap in our social policy, particularly our employment laws. |
| This morning, Commissioner Diamantopoulou and myself | discussed the present status of Malta’s negotiations regarding the social policy chapter. We have together reviewed the progress made so far and we look forward to closing this chapter at the earliest opportunity. |
| The main areas that were discussed include the | updating of our labour legislation, gender equality issues, occupational health and safety, social dialogue, our preparations for participation in the European Social Fund on membership, and employment. |
| In the context of this last topic, this morning, HE | Commissioner Diamontopoulou and myself signed the Joint Assessment Paper prepared by Malta and the European Commission’s Directorate General for Employment and Social Affairs in accordance with the Accession Partnership Agreement. |
| This document represents an agreed set of employment | and labour market objectives necessary to advance Malta’s labour market transformation, to make progress in adapting the employment system so as to be able to implement the European Employment Strategy and to strengthen our preparation for accession to the European Union. |
| The document highlights two main challenges – we | need to increase the participation rate, especially that of our female population and we need to invest further in our human resources in order to increase the skills level of our workforce. |
| Substantial progress has already been made on a | number of areas identified by the Joint Assessment Paper. |
| In a few days, we will be publishing the White Paper | proposing a totally new Employment law which will, amongst other things, introduce concepts in line with our target to increase the female participation rate. Most of these are family friendly measures that have already proved to be very successful when introduced into the public sector. |
| The second major challenge identified in the JAP, is | that related to continuing education and training as well as vocational education. Even here, we have this year redressed the imbalance which had developed in our higher education systems across generations. We have set up the first Vocational College aimed at providing an alternative route to academic formation through University. We have also set up the Council for National Vocational Qualification Certification. |
| Commissioner Diamantopoulou’s visit also coincides | with Malta’s Health and Safety week. This year, the emphasis is on prevention. This is another area where we have registered substantial progress over the past months. The new Occupational Health and Safety Authority has been set up and it is presently building its administrative and technical capacity with the help of the expertise and financing of the European Union. |
| All these areas represent a culture change which we | are determined to bring about. We are convinced that implementation will bring about substantial benefits to our economy and more importantly to our social fabric. |
Thank you.
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