The EU must take a proactive role and forge closer relationships with China, which has pledged to invest €500 billion around the world in the next five to seven years, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said yesterday.

Dr Muscat was commenting at the end the Annual Meeting of New Champions in the city of Dalian, China, organised by the World Economic forum.

The Prime Minister said Europe must grab this opportunity and offer the right conditions for China to invest in this part of the world.

He added that four European prime ministers who attended the summit were in agreement on this point.

“Malta will not wait for the EU to act, and we have proven this through the preliminary agreement in the energy sector signed with China,” Dr Muscat said, referring to Wednesday’s deal.

My vision for Europe is to have an executive body that interferes less

Asked about any investment prospects following this event, the Prime Minister said a number of meetings had been held with major commercial players, but he would not give further details, saying it was too early.

Meanwhile, Dr Muscat yesterday addressed a tri-partite meeting with the Finnish and Bulgarian prime ministers.

He expressed his wish for a greater sense of leadership by the next European Commission, which will step in next year.

“My vision for Europe is to have an executive body that interferes less, focuses more on the single market, removes unnecessary regulations and makes Europe a truly global player,” he said.

The Prime Minister said another priority should be to invest more in human capital.

“Current EU rules make it easier to ask for structural funds to build a road than to train people,” he said, arguing that the new European Commission should change EU spending rules to facilitate spending in training and education.

He said reducing bureaucracy and promoting innovation should be the other two priorities. Touching on issues of sovereignty, Dr Muscat reiterated that Malta was against fiscal harmonisation as well as the banking union.

Nevertheless, he said that such issues involve “limited” and not “considerable” transfers of sovereignty.

“I would consider having some of the powers repatriated to member states but at the same time the door must be left open for further standardisation in some areas,” said the Prime Minister.

Dr Muscat also referred to the eurozone crisis, expressing his shock that the Asian media is assuming the days of the single currency are numbered.

“That is not going to happen but unfortunately the EU at times fails to communicate the positives,” concluded Dr Muscat.

No decision yet on Enemalta stake sale

China’s stake in Enemalta Corporation will be determined during a six-month negotiating period and is not 20 per cent as Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil has claimed, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.

Dr Muscat, who yesterday ended his three-day visit to China, told Times of Malta he has no clue how the Opposition leader reached the figure.

On Wednesday, Malta and China signed a memorandum of understanding that will pave the way for the state-owned China Power Investments to become a minority shareholder in the debt-stricken corporation.

Dr Muscat hailed the preliminary agreement, saying it will translate to an injection of “tens of millions of euros” to reduce Enemalta’s debt of around €800 million.

Government sources said the Chinese injection is likely to be in the region of €200 million.

In an immediate reaction, the Opposition leader questioned the manner in which the Government based its decision to sell what he claimed was a 20 per cent stake in the corporation.

He added that the Government’s decision to partially privatise Enemalta was in breach of Labour’s electoral manifesto.

Dr Busuttil asked who will be responsible for the electricity generation, since the new gas-powered power station would be foreign owned.

In his reaction, the Prime Minister reiterated his view that this was not privatisation but “a search for a strategic partner”.

Dr Muscat added that the opportunity of luring the second largest economy in the world to Malta in such a venture could not be missed.

Once the negotiations are over and an agreement is reached on the stake of Enemalta to be sold, the whole package will be debated in Parliament and put to the vote.