There for you

This was a year when my life changed dramatically and I found myself living in four different places – Brussels, Strasbourg, Malta… and in airports. The life of an MEP is not a fun walk in the park but a packed schedule of meetings, committees, preparation and reading of reports.

However I have to admit with some satisfaction that I felt proud that, being the first Maltese woman elected to the European Parliament, I became a small part of our political history. And I can say, hand on heart, that I did my duty as an MEP to the best of my ability. I sought the interest of my country and stood up to be counted whenever the situation called for it, and I contributed, in my small way, to better the lives of our citizens.

It is with this legacy that I am presenting myself again to this country’s electorate for their vote for a new mandate, this time for a full term of five years.

As expected, a campaign comes with a slogan. The chosen slogan ‘There For You’ is a message that I believe in. It is the raison d’etre of any politician. The only reason why I decided to do politics is exactly this: to be there for the citizen – nothing less and nothing more.

My electoral programme is not a wheel-reinvention exercise. It deals with the problems and issues that are important to the Maltese electorate in a European context – the same problems and issues that I have been focusing on this past year.

Immigration

One of my first parliamentary interventions addressed the problem of illegal and irregular immigration in the Mediterranean area. While acknowledging that immigrants are human beings, and must be treated with dignity and respect, we cannot ignore the sentiments of our citizens – sentiments that are at times expressed as hostility and anger – fuelled by the fact that we are being left facing this human tragedy alone.

We must give the people of these countries a future in their own countries, so that it will not be necessary for them to escape to Europe in the hope of a better future.

We must bring forward the idea mooted by our government, where receiving centres be created in those countries from where these people are leaving for Europe – Libya, for example – so that these people do not put their lives at risk crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

However, once they arrive on our shores we must investigate their status without any delay. Those who have no right to be here must be repatriated just as any other person who has entered our country illegally. Those immigrants deserving refugee status must be assisted in finding a better future in another member state. 

There is a need to change the rules of Dublin II as its rules are not suited for a small country such as ours. There is a lot to be done but I will insist that the spirit of solidarity of the Union must not be invoked when and where it suits us, but it must be applied in everything and in the interest of everybody.

Employment 

This pertains especially to the younger generation, our future. I form part of a small group of MEPs assembled by the S&D Group in a task force to study both in a practical way in which we can create jobs. 

We launched the document ‘Europe back to work’. This is made up of ten points on how it is possible to create seven million jobs. All stakeholders were involved this project in order to create jobs and the consequent wellbeing of all. 

I am one of those people who believe that economic growth can be brought about by embracing the politics of stimuli and not by the politics of austerity. The ‘Youth Guarantee’, a programme that has already been introduced in Malta, is an integral part of this plan and the S&D Group is insisting that funding increases from the current €6 billion to €21 billion. Only through education and training can we sustain a growing economy.

In this regard, importance must be given to the wealth creators – the businessmen and women and entrepreneurs, and all those who invest their money to generate an economic activity. As a member of the business sector, I aim to be vigilant to see that no laws or rules are enacted that can affect this sector negatively.

The committee also participated in negotiations to cap commissions on credit cards, to remove roaming charges and the all-important Banking Union report. These were all S&D initiatives in the Econ Committee, of which I have the pleasure of being its Vice President. 

Education

This is another theme close to my heart, one closely related to employment. I believe that the investment in education is the most precious investment that member states can make.

I believe that the skills of reading and writing are not enough to prepare our children as the future leaders of tomorrow. I believe that our children must be given a deeper and wider education than what is currently being offered – especially for children who live on an island. 

The EU already offers various programmes of lifelong learning namely, Comenius, Erasmus, Leonardo da Vinci and Grundvic. Millions of euros are voted for the implementation of these programmes.   

However I want to take these programmes to a different level. I believe that European funds must be made available so that the educational programmes of primary school children include age-appropriate visits to a foreign country as part of their curriculum.  

It is essential that our children, from a young age, must be encouraged to seek and be exposed to the culture, art and traditions of other countries. I believe that when our children are shown new horizons, we would be encouraging them to seek a new world of learning. We would be unleashing their potential.

Animal welfare

I am sure that many of you know that I am an animal lover and consequently I could not leave out our non-human friends and companions from my electoral programme. I form part of the Intergroup for Animal Welfare of the EP where we discuss issues which are pertinent to animals, domestic and not.

There is still so much to be done in this regard. The EU makes no funds specifically available for animal welfare. Should these funds be made available they could be used to support the many animal sanctuaries, for the training of veterinary staff, to build parks and for the purchase of equipment for clinics and hospitals.

However, my dream is to have a cemetery for our pets. Many a time, these pets are disposed of as rubbish due to a law that considers dead animals a Category I animal product. I want to push to change this law in order to assure our pets a decent place of burial, as is fitting for a civilised animal-loving society.

As an MEP these will be my main areas of work – the same areas I have been working on during this year and the issues I would like to concentrate on should I be given the mandate for the next five years.

However unforeseen problems often raise their heads. A good politician must always have her finger on the electorate’s pulse, her ears to the ground in order to know what is happening in her country, in Europe and the world. She must be the voice of those who entrusted her with their vote and with the responsibility of their future and the future of their children. 

I believe that I have already achieved this in my year’s presence in the EP representing this country, and I hope that the electorate will do me the honour of doing so again for the next five years.

‘There For You’ is not just a slogan. It is a commitment to deliver.

Marlene Mizzi is a Labour MEP candidate.