Commissioner Borg wins award - €10,000 prize money to be handed to charity
The EU Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Joe Borg, has been nominated to receive the Kungsfenan Swedish Seafood Award.
The prize is awarded every year in recognition of important achievements in sustainable fisheries and gastronomy.
Mr Borg, the Maltese commissioner on the European Commission, was praised for his work over the past five years to put EU fisheries on a sustainable footing.
Dr Borg said he was extremely honoured.
"Placing sustainability at the heart of our approach to fisheries in order to guarantee a viable future for our fishermen and the marine resources they harvest is essential. I am pleased to say that we have already made considerable headway in this endeavour but there remains much to be done. We are fortunate enough to have the tools in place to help us do this, be it through the Integrated Maritime Policy which focuses on the further sustainable economic development of our seas and coastal regions, or the Common Fisheries Policy, a reform process for which was launched earlier this year.
"Under the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, we will be looking to ensure that an ecosystem approach forms the basis of our policy-making whereby Europe's fishing capacity is brought in line with the long-term sustainable exploitation of fishing resources." With respect to Commissioner Borg, the board has praised Dr Borg for being able to " handle short term interests in relation to more long term ones with great personal integrity" and have characterised his work as having " enormous potential to create a trustworthy, sustainable fishing policy".
The Award ceremony will take place at the Göteborg Opera on 11 February 2010 . The Commissioner will be donating his prize money, 100,000 Swedish Kronor (around €10,000), to an international charity, the European Commission said in a statement.
Commissioner Borg's nomination for the Kungsfenan award comes just a month after he received the Elisabeth Mann Borgese award from the Government of Schleswig-Holstein for his efforts to contribute to the creation of an Integrated Maritime Policy for the EU.
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Franco Buttigieg
Nov 5th 2009, 07:18
Well done for your hard work.
Now this is a man who could have been entrusted with MEPA's reform and placed sustainability at the heart of it's approach. Why is it that our best people always ends up going overseas?
Noel Cutajar
Nov 5th 2009, 07:13
@Gianninu Saliba - what a pathetic comment!!...so according to you only good personalities have to be PN supporters...the rest can pack and go home. Did you forget that Dr. Borg is representing us Maltese and not only PN supporters? Well done Dr. Borg!!
Evarist Saliba
Nov 4th 2009, 19:38
Congratulations!
You have shown, once again, that Malta, and its people, can make useful contributions beyond our national limits, and these are appreciated by competent bodies.
Bertu Vella
Nov 4th 2009, 15:39
Well done Dr Borg. You deserve being reappointed.
MIChael Degiorgio
Nov 4th 2009, 15:27
WELL DONE DR BORG JUST ONE QUESTION HAS THE PRIME MINISTER BEEN TOLD IF SO HE SHOLD TAKE NOTICE AND NOMINATE DR BORG TO CONTINUE HIS WORK IN THE EU WHICH HAS ALWAYS BEEN VERY CREDITABLE TO THE WHOLE 27 EU MEMBER STATES SO PM TAKE ACTION AND KEEP HIM THERE FOR THE GOOD OF OUR ISLANDS
Marco Spiteri
Nov 4th 2009, 15:17
Somebody wanted us to believe that we were "makku" and would be swallowed up by the whales !!
Joseph Falzon
Nov 4th 2009, 15:16
I too would like to congratulate Dr Borg.
Can he recommend that this money be passed on to our president Dr George Abela so that the money is distributed to local institutions through the Community Chest Fund?
Frans Sammut
Nov 4th 2009, 14:37
Well done, Dr Borg!
L Zammit
Nov 4th 2009, 14:23
Il-pajjiz tal-makku rega ghamilha!! Well done Dr Joe Borg. You have always made us proud.
jimmy calleja
Nov 4th 2009, 14:20
in answer to anthony vella, as a Commissioner he is accepting this prize on behalf of all Europeans, so according to the Commission's Code of conduct he can only give it to a Europe-wide charity.
Joe Borg has also won another prize for Maritime Affairs, from Germany. He has really done a lot to raise our country's profile. I can't understand why Government is waiting so long to name him as the next Commissioner.
There is noone else with his international profile and who enjoys the respect that he does.
If they appoint a new Commissioner it will be someone new who will have to prove him or herself from scratch, and who will obviously be given a very minor job.
mario camilleri
Nov 4th 2009, 14:15
YOU ARE A GENTLEMAN MR.BORG.
Gianninu Saliba
Nov 4th 2009, 14:14
Well Commissioner Borg, you deserve the award. This shows what stuff PN personalities are made off.
Julian Zarb
Nov 4th 2009, 14:06
it is indeed a breath of fresh air to read that there are (plenty of them) many compatriots who have earned a name for their splendid work, an indeed, contribution to mankind; from such a small country it IS possible to excel.....perhaps we can all learn a lesson from these people. Well Done Dr. Borg!
joe cutajar
Nov 4th 2009, 14:05
CONGRATULATIONS to Commissioner Dr. Joe Borg!!!!!!!
John Agius
Nov 4th 2009, 13:59
Well done Dr. Joe Borg
This confirms that a small Island state in the European Union can contribute positively towards effective Global Resource Management.
Commissioner Borg - You make us proud to be Maltese within the EU. Thank you.
John Agius
Nov 4th 2009, 13:52
Well done Dr. Joe Borg
anthony vella
Nov 4th 2009, 13:51
congratulations......
i have only one curious question !.... why his going to donate this money to an international charity, and not to a local NGO, which might be working in the fisheries field.?, or to a local NGO who will be ready to make awearness and educational campaigns in relation with this field?