Alfred Sant says European Commission has 'soft spot' for Malta

Former prime minister Alfred Sant said the European Commission has a "soft spot" for the current Maltese administration as it always approved government's decisions because it deemed Malta's economy "ineffectual in the global scene."

The Labour MP addressing parliament during the debate on the Budget 2012 estimate.

Alfred Sant said the 2012 Budget was a political exercise aimed at satisfying the European Commission's criteria and reaching the Stability and Growth Pact goals, which call for a deficit that is below 3% of the GDP.

"The worst affected have been the middle class who have been hit hard by government's policies and incompetence, not to mention corruption," Sant said.

"The 2012 Budget, drafted on a political basis more than anything else, demonstrates the urgent need for a strategic plan for sound investment in the economic and social spheres with new rules and perimeters. This reality cannot be ignored for much longer," Sant said.

"Things are either being done slowly, badly or incoherently or else done on command from Brussels. This is not bearing much fruit. The challenge of attracting strategic investment will become greater the more we bow down to demands from the eurozone," Sant said.

Sant also said that government projects and investments are continuously being postponed, citing the Cirkewwa quay, Smart City, Fort Chambay and other projects that remain on hold such as White Rocks and the new crafts village in Ta' Qali. "Other projects are implemented badly such as the public transport reform. This continues to dampen the investment landscape... Government boasts of removing subsidies of the shipyards, water and electricity. However government does not say that the recurrent expenditure grew and did not get rid of inefficiencies in public administration," Sant said.