Tapping EU funds

On Tuesday, I inaugurated a seminar that was organised to bring home to stakeholders in the tourism industry what my ministry is doing to make maximum use of European Union funds not only for Government projects but also for private sector entities as well as non-governmental organisations.

The turnout for the seminar was highly encouraging and emphasises the need to keep stakeholders well informed about various initiatives that are being taken in their regard. One of the so-called 'new' proposals found in Labour's policy document on tourism is the setting up of a Directorate to make the best possible use of such resources and to do that exactly in the same manner being already pursued by Government.

The challenge posed by the Opposition to Government to follow "its" policies is similar to that made by someone who spends most of his exam time copying from the student sitting next to him and then challenges him to answer the questions in the same way that he has answered them if he would like to achieve a good grade in the exam!

EU membership brought with it opportunities but also responsibilities. The setting up of institutional frameworks to tap EU resources was a priority for my ministry and the Opposition is well informed about the workings of the directorate set up with the specific mission to maximise on EU resources for the private sector and NGOs. The Ministry of Tourism and Culture set up a top management structure within the ministry through the amalgamation within one directorate of those human resources that were dedicated to EU affairs.

This directorate is also responsible for policy development and is the ministry's focal point and guide on EU-related affairs and the fulcrum in the development of the ministry's policies.

The directorate has various functions. We must be dynamic to ensure that no opportunities are lost. The directorate must therefore keep abreast of all legislative proposals that are related to culture, the audiovisual sector and tourism.

This unit is also implementing and monitoring the structural funds made available to Malta for 2004-06 and at the same time is planning to make good use of the structural funds that have been secured for 2007-13.

We are certainly working hard to ensure that a reasonable proportion of the €805 million that Malta will be receiving between 2007 and 2013 is devoted to tourism and culture-related projects. These projects will range from schemes aimed at achieving competitiveness in tourism, cultural initiatives and product improvement projects.

Four projects under the EU's structural funds that are already being implemented by the entities falling within the remit of my ministry out of the 2004-2006 EU budget include:

Support for tourism enterprises: a grant scheme which provided 60 per cent funding of eligible expenditure. The directorate, as part of its MTA remit, is managing the scheme for tourism enterprises; the Hagar Qim/Mnajdra Temples Conservation Project, implemented by Heritage Malta; tourism product improvements such as embellishment work carried out on Crucifix Hill and Howard Gardens, implemented by the MTA; as well as training and support services for the tourism industry. The total value of these projects is €7.4 million.

Apart from making use of structural funds, we are also responsible for the tapping of funds from other EU funding programmes, such as Interreg, EEA/Norway Funds and Culture 2000; as well as for the provision of EU related information to stakeholders in the tourism, culture and audiovisual fields.

One of the first decisions of the directorate set up to deal with EU affairs and policy development was the setting up of a media desk in 2005. This desk is responsible for the promotion and dissemination of the EU's media programme, targeting the audiovisual sector in Malta. Another decision was to incorporate the Cultural Contact Point (CCP) within the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, and which now forms part of the directorate. The CCP's role is to provide information on the EU's Culture 2000 programme and facilitates the participation in this programme for the widest possible number of cultural professionals and operators.

Believe it or not, when my ministry's estimates were being debated in Parliament, an Opposition spokesman took me to task for requesting far too much money to purchase one more desk for my office! That was the learned gentleman's interpretation of what a media desk is all about!

The EU Affairs and Policy Development Directorate is responsible for screening EU legislation and proposals relating to or affecting tourism, culture and audiovisuals; European Tourism Policy, whose parameters were outlined by the Vice-President of the EU Commission, Gunter Verheugen, at the European Tourism Forum held in Malta last October; and co-ordinating matters relating to the euro changeover.

The EU Affairs and Policy Development Directorate is also responsible for the development of a culture policy; monitoring the development of the cultural heritage policy; developing a tourism policy; developing a policy about low cost airlines; and an audiovisual policy. The directorate is moreover implementing a customer care programme and is in the process of setting up an Academy of Music.

Initial work on the drafting of a tourism policy began in 2005. The aims of the tourism policy will include the sector's economic contribution, employment, sustainable development, social and environmental contribution, distribution of income, seasonal spread, authenticity and innovation. The policies relating to 'tourism zones', 'tourism segments' and 'resources' will be integrated within this policy.

Basing on previous consultation processes, the drafting of a culture policy also took place in 2005. This policy will be discussed with all relevant stakeholders this year. It is aimed at setting the objectives for and parameters within which Malta's cultural heritage and its living culture should be developed and managed.

In the meantime, the cultural heritage strategy was presented during the National Cultural Heritage Forum organised on December 10. The ministry and the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage worked on the cultural heritage strategy, which will be presented to Parliament in 2006 following the consultation period.

This directorate is putting into practice the synergy between culture and tourism, which was the aim behind the decision that these two sectors should be within one ministry. Culture not only provides us with our identity but is also our major resource.

When the EU Affairs and Policy Development Directorate submits, implements and monitors projects that are being implemented through the support of EU structural funds it is adhering to Government's policy that tourism and culture are interrelated and that one sector supports the other. The Hagar Qim/Mnajdra Temples Conservation Project is a heritage project but at the same time a tourist attraction, especially for the cultural tourism segment. On the other hand the Howard Gardens product improvement project is a local and tourism embellishment project that is also a heritage project as it merges into a "heritage park".

Equally, the Domus Romana and Mdina projects combine restoration and rehabilitation that emphasise further the synergy that exists in our country between culture and tourism.

My ministry is going though a major restructuring process. In this restructuring exercise the EU Affairs and Policy Development Directorate is one of the crucial cornerstones and it provides an important contact point for all the entities within the ministry as well as outside of it. This is the concrete and tangible manner through which the ministry's strategy on tourism and culture is implemented.

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