Labour MEP candidate Edward Scicluna intends to submit to the European Commission a plan for Gozo to ensure the island benefits from specific EU funds between 2014 and 2020.
Prof. Scicluna said Gozo had "missed the boat" for the allocation of such funds between 2007 and 2013 because the government failed to draw up a socio-economic report as required and as promised.
Speaking during the launch of his MEP campaign in Gozo, Prof. Scicluna said Gozo featured as one of the top three priorities in his electoral campaign.
The other two were the regulators' role of protecting consumers and small and medium enterprises and safeguarding Maltese citizens' civil rights.
He explained that a declaration attached to Malta's EU Accession Treaty stated that, classifying Gozo as a separate region for statistical purposes, was not enough to ensure that Gozo would benefit from EU funding accorded to less-favoured regions. It was for this reason that a review of the social and economic disparities between the two islands was required. But the government failed to deliver and now Gozo had to wait till 2013 for the next review to take place. In the meantime, the island had to make do with sharing out of the EU budget allocated to Malta and very minimal state aid to its industry, he said.
He explained that the National Strategic Reference Framework, a document approved by the EU, listed a series of problems in Gozo.
These included high transport costs, low attractiveness for investment opportunities, a relatively large public-sector activity, a marked lack of absorption of technological capacities, small size and insularity and environmental vulnerability. On the economic side, Gozo was declared to lack product diversification, especially for the export sector.
"It was therefore ironic that, despite these problems, the government had failed to carry out this much-needed review," Prof. Scicluna remarked, pledging to present the review to the Commission following consultation with all important stakeholders.
During the launch, Prof. Scicluna also touched upon the issue of maritime transport between Malta and Gozo and the significance of Gozo Channel pricing policies for the Gozitan economy. He explained that, for every €1 million earned by the company through higher charges, the Gozitan gross domestic product suffered significantly higher losses.
With regard to foreign investment, Prof. Scicluna proposed that Gozo should have its own representatives abroad with the specific task of promoting tourism and investment in high-end manufacturing and back-office administration.