Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this evening that Malta was against fiscal federalism in the EU but would back measures which enabled the European economy to grow, because that would ultimately benefit Malta.
Replying to questions in Parliament after a statement on last Sunday's EU heads of government meeting, Dr Gonzi underlined the seriousness of the current situation in the eurozone.
He said that suggestions which had been made about changes to the Lisbon Treaty stemmed from the fact that the European leaders wished to see a stronger mechanism for the European Commission to be better intervene when countries strayed from the Stability Pact.
The current crisis, after all, was the result of the fact that some countries had strayed from the requirements of the Pact, undermining their own position and that of the eurozone.
The idea was to improve the policing of the Stability Pact, Dr Gonzi said. What was being witnessed at present showed that when countries strayed from the Pact, theyendangered themselves and the eurozone
Malta agreed that the Stability Pact should be effectively enforced because it was beneficial for everyone that deficits were reduced below 3% of GDP or, better still, eliminated.
Replying to other questions by Labour leader Joeph Muscat, Dr Gonzi said one could not say, as this stage, whether the proposed changes to the Lisbon Treaty would require approval by referendum because the extent of the changes was not known yet.
Malta was not ruling out anything, but as he had argued in Brussels yesterday, it would not be in the interests of the EU to be distracted by a series of referenda when the focus should be completely on economic growth. Referenda should be called only when absolutely necessary in the interests of the EU.
Malta would not oppose Treaty changes if they brought about stronger safeguards for the observance of the Stability Pact, but the position was reserved if other changes were proposed.
Malta, he said, wanted to see a stronger European Union, politically and economically, while respecting the individual country's sovereignty. In the issue of taxation policy, one needed to be particularly careful. Malta, he said, was against fiscal federalism, but it was in favour of systems which led the European economy to growth, because that was what suited Malta.
Dr Gonzi added that he could not say whether or not the European summit that would be held on Wednesday would produce a final, long term solution to the eurozone's current problems but he could declare that the European leaders were very determined to do so.