Sant forecasts higher prices

If Malta became a member of the European Union, prices of both local and imported products would go up in spite of what the government was saying, Labour leader Alfred Sant claimed yesterday.

Addressing one of the series of meetings the Labour Party is holding as part of its partnership campaign, entitled Fil-Pjazza, Dr Sant said that as soon as prices did go up, the government would say that this was because circumstances had changed.

The Labour leader told farmers at the meeting that they could rest assured that under the partnership option, the land they were working would remain their own. The MLP was giving a guarantee of this, which could not be given under EU rules.

Labour was willing to enact legislation on this matter, being one of five guarantees the party was offering farmers.

It also promised to retain protection, help them restructure according to the country's circumstances, help them get better organised, and speed up the issuing of licences and permits.

Labour Party deputy leader George Vella said that when Labour was in government it had been negotiating an agreement with the EU on agriculture which suited Malta, and which would have retained protection. The EU had now reached a similar agreement with Switzerland.

Labour spokesman on agriculture Noel Farrugia said that with membership Malta would be subsidising European farmers by up to 20c per kilo on certain products while the subsidies for Maltese farmers would only be of 1c per kilo on some products.