A call to grant complete administrative and financial autonomy to the Malta Council of Economic and Social Development has been made by a working group tasked to restructure this entity.
The working group, chaired by the President of the Confederation of Maltese Trade Unions, William Portelli this morning outlined its proposals during a meeting of MCSED, which brings social partners together.
Social partners were given up to the end of this month to give their reaction before presenting the final proposals to the government.
Mr Portelli remarked that the entity should fall under the responsibility of the Prime Minister. He said MCESD meetings should move away from the Social Dialogue Ministry and be held either at the new Parliament building or the Central Bank. Moreover, the agenda should be set by the chairman and not the government.
The working group is also proposing to restructure the MCESD at three levels on the same lines of the European Economic and Social Committee.
The levels would be a working group level, where social partners floated their ideas; a bureau level, where proposals were looked into by experts and legal representatives, and the plenary level.
This model, Mr Portelli said, would allow for the possibility of organisations aspiring to sit on the committee to involve themselves in the working groups, enabling them to lobby for their inclusion by showing commitment to the MCESD’s cause.