Job creation 'vital' for social cohesion

Presidents of the chambers of commerce of the 10 EU acceding countries yesterday met in Malta for a round table meeting.

Addressing the meeting on The Role of Our Chambers of Commerce In Ensuring a Smooth Integration For Commerce and Enterprise, Foreign Affairs Minister Joe Borg said Malta viewed increasing employment as the key instrument to achieving social cohesion and avoiding poverty.

"Labour market policies need to centre around employment opportunities, encouraging work and job creation," he said, adding that increasing flexibility in the labour market was "critical".

The minister referred to the inter-governmental conference held last December and said Malta's main concern was related to the minimum number of seats that any member would be entitled to have in the European parliament and other institutions.

"We strongly argued that the five European parliamentary seats offered to us in the accession negotiations, and more so the four seats proposed in the draft European Union constitution, were inadequate and should be raised to six," he said.

Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise president Louis Apap-Bologna said that over the past decade the chambers of the acceding countries had striven to convince their members that they would be net gainers if their countries joined the EU.

Mr Apap-Bologna said the chambers also believed that only if members were well informed, as well as through effective lobbying, would they be able to experience a smooth and successful transition into the EU.

The presidents called on President Guido de Marco and Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami.