Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday reiterated that Malta was not in favour of an EU fiscal union.
In a statement to Parliament, he said that in his meetings with the eurozone leaders who were present in Malta for the 5+5 meeting over the weekend, he had insisted that Malta could not back the proposed fiscal union since it would deny the country the sovereignty it enjoyed in taxation and other matters which were important for its competitiveness.
However, Malta had agreed with the setting up of an EU structure for the supervision of banks in December, also because bank operations were among the causes of much of the financial turmoil across the EU.
Dr Gonzi said that Malta needed to have more details before expressing itself on a banking union but agreed with a uniform supervisory system for banks. It remained opposed to the financial transaction tax as conceptualised but was ready to discuss any other initiative not linked to a fiscal union.
Some EU countries were moving towards enhanced financial cooperation, he said, adding that Malta would not oppose them.
The idea of introducing stamp duty replacing the financial transaction tax was also gaining ground. Malta already had its own stamp duty legislation but was ready to discuss this issue as long as Malta’s financial services and the country’s competitiveness were not hindered.
Dr Gonzi also spoke about the agreement with the Libyan authorities on the potential for setting up a campus of the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology in Misurata, with the application of Maltese expertise. He revealed that a memorandum of understanding had been signed where Malta was to support the upgrading of the Ta’ Giorni Institute to gain European accreditation.
The Prime Minister thanked the Opposition for its appreciation of the 5+5 summit, adding that such consensus gave credibility to Malta and enhanced its good reputation.
He said that illegal migration was discussed and there was a proposal by Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki to set up a task force to discuss the issue with emphasis on deaths of migrants crossing the Mediterranean. Malta supported this idea.