Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said today that the fact that Malta had managed to negotiate the best package of EU assistance was a reason for the country to be optimistic for the future under the PN.

Dr Gonzi made his comment during an interview on Radio 101.

He said it was up to the people now to decide who to trust Malta's future with - the Nationalist Party, which had taken tough decisions which kept Malta safe and created jobs, or a Labour Party which had repeatedly made mistakes in its decisions, including EU membership.

Dr Gonzi made his comments a day after returning from Brussels where he presented Malta's arguments for EU funding for Malta. Malta, he said, stuck to the EU negotiating table right up to the last minute.

"I stuck to our position up to the last minutes. Five minutes from the end I was prepared to hold up the meeting because we were not happy," Dr Gonzi said.

He said the EU had removed some funds originally offered to Malta and he had demanded their return. The EU eventually gave way and re-allocated most of the funds, he said.

"We should be very satisfied with what we have achieved. €1.12 billion for Malta is no joke, these funds will help Malta had sound finances, we are already putting our electoral programme into practice," he said.

In contrast, he said, Labour wanted to spend half of that amount on a power station which Malta did not need. Labour would not get EU funds for its project, but €63m were being made available by the EU for a gas pipeline, which the government was proposing.

Dr Gonzi wondered how the people could trust Labour with the administration of the EU funds when even the costs of its own electoral promises was way off the mark.

"They will make a mess of the EU funds," he said.