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Grech in Spain, urges member states to address citizens’ concerns
‘Europe’s future cannot be discussed without putting on the agenda citizens’ concerns,’ deputy prime minister Louis Grech tells foreign affairs ministers.
20 July 2013, 12:00am
Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
1 min read
Deputy prime minister Louis Grech has urged EU member states to start addressing the concerns of citizens before embarking on talks on Europe's future.
Addressing the annual general meeting of Europe's Future in Mallorca, Spain, Grech said it would be fruitless discussing huge reforms and treaties without first addressing the immediate problems which concerned EU citizens.
"The people's priorities and our priorities should be brought together. There are citizens who do not lead a decent quality life; there are others who feel they are giving away lots of money in bailouts while others, like the Maltese, continue to face irregular migration," Grech said.
He insisted that these issues should be resolved collectively by member states.
"The European Union must take a stand on the different issues and also take into consideration the impact of its stands on the citizens," Grech said.
He added this was be the way by which citizens opened up to European integration. Grech also reiterated the importance of the implementation of the Youth Guarantee programme and the strengthening of the Single Market.
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Some of the main citizens'concerns in Malta are the 20% of the population in or near poverty, the illegal immigration issue, unemployment, public transport...Yes, a good idea to combat these problems without foreigners trying to be cleverer than us and suggesting solutions when they don't understand our country. Local citizens who are well-off and with their heads in the sand should refrain from babbling solutions from their ivory towers or claustrophobic offices.
