Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday told Parliament that the Government was ready to use its veto in the European Union, if circumstances so required, to protect Malta’s national interests. It would not adopt a “schoolboy” approach.
Answering Opposition questions after a statement on last week’s EU summit, Dr Muscat said that if Malta was faced with a crisis in immigration, the Government was obliged to take the necessary steps and it would face such crisis with the available tools.
Leader of the Opposition Simon Busuttil declared that the Opposition absolutely did not agree with the approach and attitude adopted by the Prime Minster. He was threatening to use the veto on unrelated EU measures in order to meet Malta’s demands over the issue of immigration.
Dr Busuttil asked whether Dr Muscat was adopting a different approach in Brussels than the one which he was advocating in Malta. He said he was concerned by the Prime Minister’s statement on Malta’s intention to use the right to veto, after Dr Muscat had visited the European Asylum Support Office Malta office days before attending the EU summit.
The Government did not seek to discard the achievements of the previous government
He said that such statements sent a negative message to Brussels, adding that countries which in the past threatened the use of veto were isolated and so weakened the national interest.
Dr Busuttil also said the Prime Minister had misguided the country before the election when he had given the impression that Malta would qualify for funds under the EU Youth Guarantee Scheme.
Although Malta failed to qualify for the Objective One status, it still acquired a financial package which was higher than under the previous multi-financial framework.
Dr Busuttil said that the Prime Minister had adopted a “cowboy” approach but Dr Muscat replied saying one could not adopt a “schoolboy” approach.
Dr Muscat said that he was not a euro-sceptic but pro-European. However, this did not mean that one should always say “Yes Sir”.
Other EU leaders defended their national interests within a European context and the Maltese Government would not remain idle on issues where national interests were concerned.
Giving early warnings, as other EU leaders did, was a sane pro-European approach, which kept the EU close to people.
It was in Malta’s interests to ensure that measures taken in Latvia, a country that recently joined the eurozone, did not adversely affect the zone.
The Government’s democratic mandate provided that to decide on the Government’s income and expenses, one had to come before the House of Representatives and not go to Brussels. Malta would remain strong during negotiations.
Dr Muscat said that the President of the EU Council, Herman von Rompuy, would address Parliament next week, as a sign of the need of democratic exchange between the institutions. Earlier Dr Muscat said that the Government did not seek to discard the achievements of the previous government. However, the Opposition seemed to imply that achievements were only achieved by PN governments while failures were only the result of the PL government.
The Government believed that it should abide by the political agreement on the youth guarantee reached in February. This had the advantage of keeping all the allocated funds. It had the disadvantage that one would not be able to discuss other issues.
The youth guarantee would be implemented in next year’s budget through national funds. The idea was originated by the Party of European Socialists and the European Commission embarked on the project.
Answering a question by Dr Busuttil, Dr Muscat said the Government ensured that the funds obtained by Lawrence Gonzi under the EU Budget would be allocated to Malta. It was in this context that a Parliamentary Secretariat for EU funds and 2017 EU presidency was set up.
The Government would start implementing its promises in next year’s budget.
This was contrary to what was done by the preceding government, which sought to implement its promises in the last budget for the legislature, in its last breath.