Budget takes aim at Lisbon targets

The pro-employment 2010 Budget should help Malta move closer to the targets set out by the EU's Lisbon Strategy for jobs and growth, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said yesterday.

However, Mr Fenech said, there was still a debate on a European level as to whether Europe would reach the very ambitious Lisbon targets.

Although Malta was well on its way to attaining the targets set for the 2008-2010 period, Mr Fenech said the big blow dealt to the world by the global recession could lead to a rethink of the aims.

"I expect that, in the coming months, when we start talking about the strategy for 2011 to 2013, there will be an assessment of the strategy in view of what we went through in the past months," he said at the launch of the annual report on Malta's progress in implementing the strategy, covering the period between October 2008 and last September.

The Lisbon Strategy was agreed by member states in 2000 and includes a set of economic, social and environmental targets that have to be reached by next year. Among them is a 70 per cent overall employment rate; 60 per cent for women. Last year, Malta's employment rates stood at just over 55 per cent overall and 37.4 per cent for women.

Mr Fenech said the crisis had dealt a substantial blow to employment in Europe, with unemployment reaching levels unseen in the continent for years. International experts were even talking about a jobless recovery.

Mr Fenech said the government would be keeping the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development updated on the process of implementation of the Budget measures. The General Workers' Union made the proposal last week.