Employers lamented the government’s lack of consultation with social partners on “priority issues” at a gathering with the Prime Minister.

David Curmi, president of the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, said yesterday the organisation was not satisfied with the way government treated the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development.

The citizenship scheme was a case in point, Mr Curmi said, adding he was glad the matter had now been resolved.

“Certain priority issues have not featured on the agenda and we feel the MCESD is losing its autonomy because of lack of resources. Suffice to say, it meets at the ministry and not on neutral ground,” he said. The MCESD used to meet at a hotel, with the new arrangement coming into place after the election.

Mr Curmi said lack of resources voted for the council meant it could not commission independent technical reports and studies.

He was speaking at a dialogue session with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat organised by the chamber for its members. The media were invited for the introductory speeches.

Mr Curmi said the chamber’s biggest concern was the lack of EU regional funds as a result of Malta losing its Objective One Status – the highest form of funding – which was lost because the island’s economy surpassed the EU benchmark.

This move could impact competitiveness and create problems in the manufacturing sector since the level of aid industry could receive would drop, he said.

Mr Curmi also warned that industrial production had dropped and recent statistics confirmed the downward trend.

High electricity prices were contributing to a loss of competitiveness, he noted, asking the government to consider cutting utility tariffs for big industries this year rather than wait for 2015.

Addressing this point, Dr Muscat said the government had to be careful not to destabilise its fiscal programme but pledged to hold discussions in a bid to find a solution.

Dr Muscat said the chamber was an honest broker and the government was always ready to listen to what it had to say.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com