Candidate sees MEP as EU-electorate link

Roberta Tedesco Triccas, a Nationalist Party candidate for the upcoming European Parliament elections, met a number of Gozitan local councillors, candidates for the local council elections and members of the various PN local committees in Gozo.

Addressing the Gozitan representatives, Dr Tedesco Triccas said an MEP and local councillors shared a common goal, that of working towards the good of their communities and of Malta and Gozo as a whole.

She emphasised that an MEP should be the link between the structures of the European Union and their electorate saying that to this end local committees and local councils also had an important role to play.

"Local councils and committees will have access to the office of their MEPs where they can forward any suggestions, complaints and ask for any information the people in their locality might need," she said.

Dr Tedesco Triccas explained that the time she spent working within the EP and the European People's Party gave her first hand experience of how Maltese and Gozitan citizens can benefit in real terms.

She added that the fact that during the negotiations with the EU, Malta and Gozo were recognised as an Objective 1 region, opened the way to new opportunities that could translate into higher benefits.

Dr Tedesco Triccas said this involved three main elements - the part played by the national government in order to further Maltese interests within the Council of Ministers, the local population, and their representative within the European Parliament. The role of an MEP was to ensure and facilitate that all three elements worked together in coordination.

"The MEP will be able to help identify projects and find the appropriate funding opportunities that localities and organisations could apply for," she said.