Prime Minister welcomes ‘balanced approach’ adopted by the Council

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has described the similarity between the conclusions of the European Council's summit and the electoral manifesto presented by Labour for the 2013 general elections as the result of "adopting common sense".

The main points of the Council conclusions include efforts towards attaining 'Youth Guarantee' programmes as pledged by Labour, addressing youth unemployment, increase female participation in the workforce and the reduction of red tape among others.

Muscat said that the conclusions were in line with the Labour government's mandate because both sides had adopted "an attitude of common sense".

"Everyone realises that it's impossible to go on a spending spree and that a balance must be struck. Austerity measures won't work and public spending should be directed at areas that stimulate growth," he said, adding that by appointing Stefan Buontempo parliamentary secretary responsible for research and innovation, Labour was sending out a political message in support of new sectors.

Muscat also said he had been "pleasantly surprised" that other prime ministers who welcomed him to the Council, had been briefed about the political situation in Malta. He said there were others who wanted to send their regards to former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi - regards which Muscat has already passed on after he phoned Gonzi yesterday.

Muscat also revealed that together with deputy prime minister Louis Grech, a meeting was already held with energy minister Konrad Mizzi on Labour's energy plan, while Mizzi himself had already been in contact with Italy to see at what stage the discussions on the interconnector were.

In May, the European Council will be holding a summit on energy. According to the Council, no EU member state should remain isolated from the European gas and electricity networks after 2015.

But while he confirmed Labour's commitment to form part of the grid connecting Europe, Muscat skirted direct questions on whether the 20% energy expected to be generated from the interconnector will be enough to satisfy EU requirements.

Instead he pointed out that an energy plan published last November by the PN administration included the development of a second interconnector with Italy.

Fielding questions by the press on his new Cabinet, Muscat defended his choice of having a large Cabinet. "It's not a question of increasing expenditure but one of value for money. It is the right size," he said, while admitting his opposition to appointing parliamentary assistants.

"I am not very keen on parliamentary assistants and I prefer assigning particular roles to specific individuals. My idea is also not to stop at government benches but also turn towards the Opposition and assign MPs with executive roles."