Hubner praises Malta over use of EU funds...

European Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Hubner left Malta yesterday "convinced" that the island had specific requirements which need EU assistance.

"Europe is composed of different states and regions with different levels of development, challenges and opportunities. Malta has its own specificities," Ms Hubner told The Times, following a meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi at Auberge de Castille, in Valletta.

The Polish Commissioner, whose portfolio includes the all-important cohesion and structural funds, once again applauded Malta for the way it was utilising its EU funds.

The EU's cohesion and structural funding for Malta in the period 2004-2006 amounted to around €81 million, with another €728 million allocated for 2007-2013.

Ms Hubner, who also held a meeting with President Eddie Fenech Adami, toured some of the projects which are being funded by the EU, including the Gharb/San Lawrenz road in Gozo.

"Malta still has to continue with development of transport infrastructure. I myself experienced excellent roads, but others still need to be upgraded," she said.

The island may however avail itself of cohesion funds which are specifically designated for transport and environment infrastructure, and energy efficiency, Ms Hubner said.

Though Malta had its limitations, it should continue investing in education, enterprises, research and development innovation and information technology.

"I'm very happy that all this is part of the national strategy," Ms Hubner said.

While pointing out that 10 per cent of EU funds were rerouted towards Gozo, Dr Gonzi said that the government had identified specific priority areas in a drive to create jobs and economic activity.

...stresses need for R&D investment

Malta should encourage its small and medium sized enterprises to invest in more research and development, European Commissioner Danuta Hubner said yesterday.

Replying to questions by Labour MP Leo Brincat during a meeting with the European and Foreign Affairs Committee at the House of Representatives, in Valletta, Ms Hubner said that although the EU would work with Malta to improve sectors such as road infrastructure, Malta should, at the same time, support and help small companies in technology to promote innovation.

"These things have to be done at the same time," she said.

She said that innovation was one of the major priority areas and SMEs had to invest more in technology. The challenge was for small companies to become innovative because large companies which only had subsidiaries in Malta would not bring research and development to the country.

Ms Hubner, who is responsible for regional policy, said the Commission would also like to see strategies for priority sectors and for the cohesion funds to be used for the different elements of such strategies.

Ms Hubner was in Malta for a two-day visit that ended yesterday, to see what progress has been made in technical preparations to spend the €728 allocated to Malta under the cohesion policy, which provides funding for projects of a socio-economic nature.

Referring to comments made by committee chairman Jason Azzopardi, she said she strongly believed that there could not be a one-size-fits-all policy in the EU. Policies had to be adjusted according to the needs and priorities of the countries concerned.

Replying to a question by Nationalist MP Mario de Marco, who asked how Malta could learn from the experiences and mistakes of others, Ms Hubner said there were big success stories in the use of cohesion funds in Europe and huge value added could be achieved in learning from others.

Ms Hubner said it was important for the Maltese to attend meetings and conferences that were held. "You do not come... every time we have something that could be useful for Malta," she said.

The Commissioner also said that partnership and involvement of people at all kinds of levels was important.