The Nationalist Party this afternoon launched the slogan and logo of its campaign for the European Parliament elections.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said the people on June 6 were being invited to make a choice which would have very serious consequences for the country. But before that choice was made, the people were being invited to compare the record of the Nationalist MPs and those of the Labour Party.

He said that the logo Flimkien - Ingibu izjed xoghol ghalik - in a nutshell underscored the government'soverriding priority.

The emphasis, he said, was again on working together. The world economic scenario had changed radically in just over a year and so had the challenges which the country faced. One would therefore be deceiving the people if one approached the elections without pointing out the difficulties ahead - although, thanks to past decisions, it was well placed to handle them. This should be another opportunity for the people to unite, not only to overcome the difficulties, but also to exploit opportunities that would enable Malta to emerge stronger.

He said that other challenges which Malta faced were in the environment, energy, competitiveness and education, and the people and the social partners should therefore remain united to made the best of them. They also had a responsibility to ensure they made the best use of EU funds of €1,200 million.

This government had created thousands of jobs, he said, but job creation would remain the main emphasis, along with making Malta an attractive investment destination.

Earlier, Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil spoke on the work done by the Nationalist MEPs and drew contrasts with the position of the Labour MEPs and the socialist group. He pointed out that the socialist group had been in favour of the Working Time Directive while the Nationalist MEPs had been against. Last night, talks between the European Parliament and the Commission broke down and Malta was assured of its opt-out, meaning workers were free to work more than 48 hours per week, if they wished. The socialist group, he said, had also taken positions on the Services Directive and on port operations which were contrary to Malta's needs. Although the Labour MEPs had not always voted witht heir group, the position of the socialists needed to be noted, Dr Busuttil said.

Dr Gonzi said the Labour MEPs were not managing to convince the socialist group to adopt positions which suited Malta. He hoped, however, that all Maltese MEPs would pull at the same rope in the national interest.