Red tape cost Malta €470 million - AN

Reports by EU think tanks have ranked Malta in the 15th place in transparency in MEP votes, Azzjoni Nazzjonali leader Josie Muscat said.

Addressing a news conference Dr Muscat said that another study showed that bureaucracy and red tape had cost Malta some €470 million.

He said that no one knew how much Malta contributed to the EU financially. The country paid the EU a percentage of VAT it collected along with three fourths of the money it received from customs duties. However, no one knew the full amount.

Dr Muscat criticised the holding of local elections together with a big election saying this was reducing their importance and in doing so the government was also forcing people to vote for the councils.

AN, he said, was against the involvement of partisan political in local elections and that was why it was not fielding candidates for these elections.

He pointed out that councils were wasting a lot of public funds.