Healthcare for all - Dalli's aim as Commissioner

Malta's Commissioner-designate John Dalli said he would make access to healthcare for all EU citizens his priority when he takes on his new job in Brussels.

"People should have the same right to recover from an illness... My priorities in the health sector at EU level will be similar to the ones I applied in Malta: total accessibility to health care and the sustainability of the sector," Mr Dalli said during a Nationalist Party activity in Mġarr.

He pointed out that, whereas in the local context, he was in a position to implement policies and reforms, at an EU level it was up to member states to adopt changes.

Barely four days after Mr Dalli's nomination for Commissioner was announced by the government, European Commission president José Manuel Barroso allocated the portfolios to his 26-stong team.

Mr Dalli will be serving as Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner and is expected to take office in February following a long process of scrutiny of the 26 commissioner-designates. Until then he will retain his post as Social Policy Minister in Malta.

Mr Dalli yesterday said he was glad that his portfolio allowed him to work closely with the citizens. He believed his portfolio had been tailored according to his curriculum vitae.

An accountant by profession, Mr Dalli served as Minister for Economic Affairs between 1990 and 1992 and Finance Minister from 1992 until 1996 and again between 1998 until 2004.

He said his experience in the financial sector allowed him to keep in mind the financial realities of any proposals made.

Turning to his time spent within the local political scene, since 1987, he said he was proud that the Nationalist Party had always believed in Malta and the capabilities of the people. He was glad that the opposition, that for so long tried to indoctrinate and protect the population, now also believed in the country.

Speaking during the party activity, Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg and Resources and Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino congratulated Mr Dalli on his appointment.

Mr Borg said that Mr Dalli's departure to Brussels was both an achievement and a loss for Malta. Malta had gained the presence of a competent politician at the heart of the EU but lost an energetic minister within its Cabinet, he said.

Mr Pullicino credited Mr Dalli with being the "pilot" who ensured that Malta's banks and financial system remained strong during the global financial crisis. This was due to Mr Dalli's contributions as Finance Minister, Mr Pullicino said.