The European Union could not continue with the “illusion that it is the be all and end all” as it risked being overtaken by its competitors, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said yesterday.
Excessive bureaucracy and red tape could make it lose out on economic opportunities.
“The EU is inward looking, thinking it is the be all and end all. It is not realising that economic growth is coming from other places, most of the time from outside the EU,” Dr Muscat told a dialogue organised by the Malta-EU Steering Action Committee to mark the 10th anniversary of Malta’s EU membership.
“There is a lot of bureaucracy. If this is a source of economic growth, then why are we making it so difficult,” he added.
It is not realising economic growth is coming from other places
Dr Muscat said a number of Gulf countries were looking at the EU for investment but the excessive bureaucracy in the issuance of visas was one of the major stumbling blocks.
Europe had the biggest economic market in the world but it risked losing all that if it did not widen its vision,” he said.
Admitting that he had militated against EU membership before accession, Dr Muscat said that once a decision had been taken by the people he had started striving for membership to be a success.
He said the discussion before accession was down to monetary issues and how much funds Malta could get as a result of membership. However, nobody spoke about the mentality changes that were coming our way, he said.
“We missed the wood for the trees because the discussion should have also been on society and the change in mentality. EU accession accelerated these mentality changes.”
Insisting that EU membership “transcended” the money received, Dr Muscat expressed pride that Malta was one of those countries that were absorbing most funds.
Taking questions from the floor, Dr Muscat pondered on why retail trade was on the decrease when the economy was growing and employment was increasing.
He pinned this down to the €200 million spent last year on online trade, adding that local businesses ought to focus their efforts on giving a consumer-centric service, especially after sales.