Solana rules out new talks on EU package

The re-negotiation of the package Malta agreed to before joining the European Union in 2004 is "not possible", EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, told The Times yesterday.

Mr Solana echoed spokesmen for European Commissioners who have told The Sunday Times that it would be impossible for the Labour Party, if elected, to re-negotiate conditions on agriculture and shipyards laid down in the accession treaty, as Labour Leader Alfred Sant has pledged to do.

The European Union does not do anything of the sort, Mr Solana said yesterday, adding that the EU had other more important issues to concentrate on, such as the ratification of the Reform Treaty, also known as the Lisbon Treaty.

Dr Sant has insisted that re-negotiation is a possibility and that, to safeguard the island's interests, a Labour government would strive to reopen talks on the agreement that Malta struck with the EU on agriculture and the Malta Shipyards.