EU negotiations – taking Malta’s needs into account

Foreign Minister Joe Borg, gives an update on the series of meetings held with Special Interest Members of the MEUSAC and on the current status of negotiations with the European Union.

Government now has a track record of successful negotiations and has proved that even in the areas where problems might have been anticipated, solutions can, and are, being found that take into account Malta’s needs.
The Government has also demonstrated its commitment to the consultative nature of the accession process. To date the Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee has been convened on 51 occasions to discuss and where necessary adopt the positions of the Malta Government on the various chapters of the acquis.
Meetings with SIMs
In addition the Minister of Foreign Affairs has just completed a round of 27 meetings which were held over a period of three months with the Special Interest Members involved in MEUSAC. A total of 120 Special Interest Members were invited to attend the meetings.
The Meetings were informal in nature and were co-chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the line Minister concerned - also attending were the Chairman of the Core Negotiating Group and/or his representatives, Director EUD and other technical experts from both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the respective line Ministries.
Separate meetings were held with the nine largest constituted bodies: GWU, UHM, CMTU, MEA, MHRA, FPB, FOI, CC, GRTU. On occasion these were also invited to attend different meetings of a specific nature.
Special Interest Members were asked to, and in many cases did, submit specific questions prior to the meeting enabling an immediate answer to be given.
The objective of the meetings were:
• to inform the special interest members on how far the process has progressed
• to listen to any concerns they may have regarding negotiations, implementation in the various sectors and the consultation process
• to allow for the opportunity to explain, and where necessary change, our position with respect to either the negotiations themselves or the implementation arising there to decide on any action that may be required to improve the process of consultation and adaptation
Assessment on the impact of the meetings:
This was the first time that such a consultation procedure was instituted. It is our intention to continue with a series of such meetings at the end of this year or the beginning of next year as the overall assessment was very positive for the following reasons:
The Special Interest Members found that in a more restricted and informal setting they could expound their views on the overall process of negotiations and implementation
Many suggestions made by the Special Interest Members with regard to dissemination of information and means to implement aspect of the acquis were taken on board thus allowing for them to be properly reflected at the adaptation phase
Specific questions asked were given an immediate reply
Further contacts were built between the technical persons and the Special Interest Members
Status of Negotiations
Malta has now closed negotiations on 17 of the 29 substantive chapters of the acquis:
Free Movement of Goods (1)
Free Movement of Persons (2) Freedom to provide Services (3)
Company Law (5)
Economic and Monetary Union (11)
Statistics (12)
Energy (14)
Industrial Policy (15)
SMEs (16)
Science and Research (17)
Education and Training (18) Telecommunications (19)
Culture and Audio-Visual Policy (20) Consumer and Health Protection (23)
External Relations (26)
CFSP (27)
Financial Control (28)
Malta has submitted its Negotiating Position on all other substantive chapters of the acquis:
Free Movement of Capital (4)
Competition (6)
Agriculture (7)
Fisheries (8)
Transport (9)
Taxation (10)
Social Policy (13)
Regional Policy (21)
Environment (22)
JHA (24)
Customs Union (25)
Financial and Budgetary Provisions (29)
Malta has received Common Positions from the Union on all these chapters save for Agriculture (7).
Requests Accepted
a) Free Movement of Goods (1):
Pharmaceuticals: Malta obtained a transitional period of four years with regard to licensing and implementation of pharmacovigilance of medicinal products for human use for those products already on the market on 1 January 2003.
Malta ensured that terms such as ‘evaporated milk’ and ‘milk chocolate’ commonly used in Malta would continue to be used locally in line with consumer preferences.
b) Free Movement of Persons (2):
Free Movement of workers: Malta ensured that it will retain the requirement of the work permit for EU citizens for seven years, although such permits would be issued automatically. During this time Malta will be in a position to invoke safeguards (ie. not issue permits) in cases of a disruption of the labour market or the threat thereof. This action may be taken in particular sectors or across the board. In urgent and exceptional circumstances it will do this unilaterally and then send a reasoned notification to the Union.
c) Energy (14):
Malta obtained a transitional period until the end of 2006 for the implementation of Directive 98/93/EC to maintain minimum stocks of crude oil and/or petroleum products.
Requests Withdrawn
a) Freedom to provide Services (3):
Malta had requested a transition period of undefined duration in order to safeguard the remaining inheritance rights of port workers (burdnara).
Once a way was found of fully preserving those rights within the framework of the acquis, the request was withdrawn.
b) Social Policy (13):
Malta originally asked for a transition period of four years with regard to 4 articles of the Working Time Directive. Following an extremely detailed impact assessment, consultations with the Commission, and a thorough assessment of the extensive derogations permitted within the Directive, it was decided that the request could be withdrawn for three of these Articles with negligible impact. The request with regard to Article 6, on Working Time, still holds.
It should be noted that these are the only two instances of Maltese requests being withdrawn. Both instances were unanimously approved by MEUSAC.
Achievements
Requests were made by Malta in those instances where Malta perceived that transition periods/special arrangements were required in order to ensure a smooth transition to membership.
The main gains from membership come from other areas, so one shouldn’t focus exclusively on what Maltese requests were accepted during the negotiations, but on what gains there are for Malta all round:
The timetable for the introduction of thousands of standards for various goods (Free Movement of Goods - 1);
The right for all Maltese citizens to work in any EU and EEA state without the need for a work permit from day 1 of membership (Free Movement of Persons – 2);
The right for any Maltese service provider to operate anywhere within the EU (Freedom to provide Services - 3);
Malta’s participation in numerous EU programmes such as the Fifth Framework Programme, Socrates, Leonardo, Youth, Culture, Media, and many, many more, from the EU budget. Each capable of delivering enormous benefits to Maltese businessmen, students, youth, artists and producers (Science and Research – 17, Education and Training – 18, Culture and Audio-Visual Policy – 20 and others);
An accelerated timetable for the liberalisation of telecommunications giving immediate and huge benefits to the Maltese consumer – e.g. mobile telephony, where prices have dramatically fallen and usage hugely increased over the past year (Telecommunications - 19);
Significant increases in consumer protection, with a timetable for the adoption of European standards and legislation (Consumer and Health Protection - 23);
The possibility of Malta benefiting from the EU’s vast network of commercial and trade agreements with countries all over the world (External Relations – 26);
The added voice that Malta will have on the world stage as part of the EU’s CFSP (while at the same time completely preserving its neutrality);
NB. This list, which is not exhaustive, covers only closed chapters.
Benefits of the Process
The process itself – quite apart from its results – is proving to be extremely beneficial:
It has led to an in-depth examination of policy, practice and legislation across virtually all areas of Government; an exercise during which, furthermore, we have had extensive access to technical expertise from the Commission and the Member States;
It has led to a Government-wide reappraisal and strengthening of administrative capacity;
It has deepened the culture of Government-private sector consultation and co-operation;
The Next Steps
The negotiating process is ongoing. It is Government’s aim to close a number of chapters this year, and to conclude negotiations by mid-to end-2002. This will allow for a referendum to be held, followed by accession as part of the first enlargement, in time for participation in the EP elections in mid 2004.