French President François Hollande with Joseph Muscat yesterday. Photo: Jeremy Wonnacott/DOIMalta is a touristic haven but certainly not a tax haven, according to French President François Hollande, who is satisfied with its “strong” banking system.
“We see it is a system that is properly regulated and there is no apparent risk... and if you’re suggesting there may be a parallel with other countries this is not the case,” Mr Hollande said, discarding any comparisons between the banking structures of Malta and Cyprus.
Malta’s banking sector was recently under scrutiny after the EU and the International Monetary Fund agreed a €10 billion bailout for Cyprus, which had to wind down its second largest bank and force depositors with sums over €100,000 to take a massive cut on savings.
Mr Hollande, with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, was addressing the media after their one-hour meeting at the Elysées Palace in Paris where they discussed the eurozone and immigration, among other topics.
Joseph and I share the same views on the future of Europe
Beneath clear blue skies, Dr Muscat’s official car crunched its way across the gravel of the palace grounds at 3pm. He was received with military honours and given a warm welcome by Mr Hollande.
The two leaders have a strong personal relationship – they previously worked together on an EU level within the Socialist group – and this was further strengthened yesterday.
“Joseph and I share the same views on the future of Europe. We want a Europe that is more stable,” Mr Hollande said, adding that the meeting spoke of the need for the banking union to be put in place by 2014.
“Malta wants to play its full role in the banking union... it is important that this is introduced within the agreed timeframe to protect savers and investors and ensure there is sufficient support and trust in our banking systems.”
The EU proposes to place eurozone banks under the overarching supervision of the European Central Bank, followed by the creation of a bank resolution scheme for the bloc and, eventually, a common deposit scheme.
Dr Muscat – who was accompanied by his deputy Louis Grech, Foreign Affairs Minister George Vella and Ambassador Pierre Clive Agius – welcomed Mr Hollande’s statements on Malta’s banking system.
“Mr Hollande was very categorical that Malta is a haven but a cultural, touristic and economic haven, not a tax haven. He was satisfied Malta has a strong banking system,” he said.
On the subject of economic growth, Dr Muscat said Malta and France shared the same vision for Europe – without it there could not be a sustainable deficit reduction programme.
“For deficit cuts to be sustainable there has to be economic growth and we are glad that there seems to be a shift within the European Commission in favour of this approach,” he added.
“On a political level the Commission is at long last saying that deficit is not the be-all and end-all. Yes, there has to be fiscal discipline but you need to ensure the economy grows,” he said.
Just this week Commission President José Manuel Barroso signalled his support for relaxing Europe’s austerity drive, as countries struggle to hit tough budget targets amid persistent economic weakness.
Questioned about Malta’s looming excessive deficit procedure from Brussels after its deficit crept above three per cent, Dr Muscat was clear about his government’s objectives.
“We’ve made it clear to the Commission that whatever happens, whether procedures are opened against Malta or not, we will go beneath the three per cent deficit threshold by the end of the year,” he said.
On immigration, the two leaders agreed that their ministers would work together to explore the possibility that Frontex would help Malta deal with immigration from war-torn countries.
While noting that there had been some changes to the rules of engagement of the Frontex mission, Dr Muscat said this was not enough for the island to host the agency’s anti-immigration patrol missions; the island had pulled out in 2010.
“We do believe that the core rule should be that rescued migrants are taken to the nearest port of call that is safe. That is where Mr Hollande has offered more assist-ance,” he added.
The talks were held under the shadow of clashes and violent demonstrations sparked by a divis-ive same-sex marriage Bill that was approved by the French parliament on Tuesday. Did Dr Muscat envisage a similar situation in Malta when it forges ahead to legalise civil unions?
“We have a very clear mandate to legislate civil unions. We’re proud to be able to do this in the coming months. I do think that even though there may be some resistance this is a common-sense step in the right direction,” he said, as Mr Hollande nodded and said he was proud France could be of an example.
Sarah Carabott
A €2.4 million project that will study familial breast cancer among Maltese and Sicilian communities was officially launched yesterday by Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia.
The project, work on which started in March and will continue until 2015, will be led by the Health Ministry with the participation of the University of Malta and the Malta Council for Science and Technology.
The EU co-funded project, called IMaGenX, will design and test IT systems to evaluate genetic, environmental and lifestyle risks related to breast cancer among the two communities.
The data would be analysed and distributed to help people lower the risk. A desktop and smartphone app would be developed whereby young women input their lifestyle details and would be given a risk profile, project leader Joe Psaila said.
Speaking during a visit to the National Health Screening Centre at Lascaris Wharf, Dr Farrugia argued that, along with being better for patients, disease prevention techniques such as screening were more cost-effective, pointing out that treatment was invariably more expensive.
The breast screening programme implemented by the centre had been commended by the International Agency for Research on Cancer but Dr Farrugia commented that the place needed a more robust setup, which translated into more human and financial resources.
He announced that the Government intended to extend the screening programme to women over 60 and increase the frequency of screening from once every three years to biannually. Since its launch in October 2009, about 20,000 women have been tested, 174 of them being diagnosed with cancer.
When it comes to colorectal testing, Dr Farrugia said the Government had inherited a waiting list of about 400 people living in Gozo and nearly 1,000 in Malta.
Since November, the screening centre had sent out 2,200 invitations, 400 were tested and 21 people were referred for further examinations as they were found to be at risk of deve-loping bowel cancer.
One had been eventually diagnosed with cancer and five had polyps.