Opening further doors

When last Wednesday European Commissioner Joaquin Almunia declared, on behalf of the European Commission that Malta is economically fit to join the eurozone, he was affirming that the work, started by the Maltese Government to bring our economy in order, is being recognised by the European Union itself.

With these positive reports, the convergence report of the EC and the one made by the European Central Bank, our hard work is being recognised and in Mr Almunia's words, "Malta is doing things very, very well".

What does this certificate mean for our country, for us and for our children?

For our country

This means that our country will be joining a strong world currency, the second in strength in the global market. It also means that hard work pays.

In three years Malta managed to reduce the deficit from 10 per cent to less then 3 per cent of GDP while we continued to invest, reduce taxes and attract investment - a strategy that is paying off.

Commissioner Almunia praised the way the convergence information campaign is being carried out by the NECC. He said: "The Commission is very impressed by the work being done by the Maltese changeover committee." Experience shows us that where the changeover committee carried out good informative campaigns the euro changeover experience was smooth, such as what happened in Slovenia.

For us

Quoting from Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi's press conference address: "We managed and the whole country has a lot to be proud of. We had to make sacrifices, true, but we were sure that they would bear fruit."

The contribution of each one of us has left its mark to reach this goal. This is an important goal in our economic history. Ambitious, some might say, but still we managed, once again, to prove ourselves and achieve our aspirations.

We reached our objective to assure a stable, credible economic situation for us to benefit from its fruits. It is no joke to be accepted to participate in such a solid economic and financial bloc. With the flow of investment on the rise, this event comes at an ideal time to assure further success in the global market.

Economic growth will assure that sustainable welfare schemes and further investments in our health services without having the taxpayer carrying the burden. Our economy is on a development path and the goals achieved are recognised as credible and sustainable.

For our children

This means that our economy will attract quality foreign investment that will generate quality jobs for us and for our children. The adoption of the euro will make Malta more competitive in international markets.

This would translate into further investment into our educational system to assure better jobs so that future generations of the Maltese population would not lag behind in comparison to their European counterparts.

In simple words the vision that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi speaks about: not only becoming members of the European Union and the eurozone but also making the most of it.

The great accomplishments this generation achieved, EU accession and last Wednesday's reports, also mean further work for our future generations. We must ensure that we continue building on these results and continue writing further chapters in our successful European adventure storybook.

When one considers that, thanks to Nationalist administrations, in less then 20 years Malta has been transformed from an isolated country into a country that is being recognised for its economic achievements and the prosperous future ahead of us, that is a good result for hard work.

The work is not finished yet and to reach our targeted E-day of January 1,2008, we must continue showing this progress. During the ECOFIN meeting scheduled for the first week of June and the EU summit on June 21 notice will once again be taken of the progress and the last step would occur in July when ECOFIN will set the irrevocable exchange rate between the Maltese lira and the euro. This would represent the final approval in our euro adoption bid.

We definitely have come a long way since the commencement of our European adventure three years ago. The decisive decisions taken by the government led by Dr Gonzi have once again been proved to be the best in the interests of our country, our children and ourselves.

The determination shown by Nationalist administrations to put Malta and its people among the finest has once again left the desired results.

Since the achievement of Independence back on September 21, 1964, the Nationalist Party in government never looked back and achieved the objectives that were entrusted to it.

One success story after another, apart from the few slicks during Labour administrations, led the Maltese population to be recognised by politicians and investors alike.

Although we are lacking in natural resources, we have a valuable resource called human resources that makes our country competitive in international markets.

david.casa@europarl.europa.eu, www.davidcasa.eu