‘Foreign MEPs are easier to contact than ours’ – GRTU member

Local businessmen have more contact with foreign MEPs than with Maltese representatives, a GRTU member told MEP candidates.

In a seminar organised by Malta’s chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises for its members to voice their concerns directly to the MEP candidates, GRTU member Marcelle Mizzi complained about the lack of contact with Malta’s representatives.

“The six Maltese MEPs should be our focal point in Brussels, but unfortunately this is not the case in the present time. Dar Malta should be utilised more to make our voice heard, for instance our studies and papers should be left there for the disposal of our MEPs,” Mizzi told the MEP candidates.

Incumbent MEPs Roberta Metsola (PN) and Marlene Mizzi (PL) concurred that there is room for more consultation with local stakeholders on major votes but said this may not always be possible.

“We are obviously in favour of more contact with the affected stakeholders but this consultation may not always be possible since by that time, we would have already arrived to the final stages of the vote,” Metsola said.

Adding to her counterpart’s statement, Mizzi explained that MEPs currently receive the government’s opinion just half an hour before the vote.

“In 30 minutes there is no time for consultation, especially if the opinion issued by Dar Malta does not reflect my own opinion on the subject,” Mizzi remarked.

On this subject, Labour’s Cyrus Engerer said the solution was to review this national coordination process.

“This process from Meusac and other relevant authorities should begin at the starting point rather than at the final stages of the vote. This would leave time for consultation with stakeholders and leave the MEP with a more informed position,” Engerer stated.

Other concerns raised by local SMEs included elements of unfair competition, excessive red-tape and access to finance.

In his opening speech, GRTU president Paul Abela identified the main concerns that SMEs expected their elected representatives to address in the European Parliament.

“We want our representatives to combat the one-size-fits-all approach. You cannot compare a Maltese company with another one established in Germany, they have different needs and potential. You cannot compare one firm who employs three people with a foreign company which employs 2,000 people,” Abela said.

He added that Malta’s insularity and peripheral position should be acknowledged by European policy-makers and that the necessary attention to peripheral regions and states should be given.

He also underlined that GRTU members found it discriminating that while the European Central Bank was lending at 0.25%, local banks were lending at an average rate of between 5-7%.

The seminar was attended by Labour candidates Alfred Sant, Marlene Mizzi, Cyrus Engerer, Fleur Vella and Ivan Grixti, while Roberta Metsola, Stefano Mallia and Jonathan Shaw represented the Nationalist Party.