Elected MEPs need to safeguard Maltese interests, Business Bureau tells Muscat

The Malta Business Bureau (MBB) has told Prime Minister Joseph Muscat that it was committed to safeguarding Maltese businesses in the EU and it hoped elected MEPs would do the same.

The MBB presented their manifesto to Muscat before continuing their discussion behind closed doors at the Labour Centre in Hamrun.

Muscat took the opportunity to take a stab at PN MEPs in their “undermining” of Malta’s reputation.

“Irrespective of who gets elected as an MEP in the next legislature, I wish to see the pooling of resources and for MEPs, irrespective of which party they hail from, to pull the same rope.

“Unfortunately, I lament that this barely happened in this legislature. I will leave it up to the country to decide why it hasn’t,” he said.

Muscat said it was “ironic” to see German green MEP Sven Giegold invoking Article 7 to the chagrin of the PN MEPs.

“It’s ironic because [Giegold] was basing his argument on what the PN MEPs had told him. The propaganda got out of hand. But now it’s time to move on,” Muscat said.

President of the MBB, Simon Decesare, said that it was important to persuade EU legislators of the importance of small economies like Malta.

“Within the manifesto, you’ll see key points we worked on. New life should be bred into the single market and we need to press the EU to be more small-business friendly and propose further sustainability,” Decesare said.

Muscat replied that he hoped to see a more level playing field in the business competition between EU countries but said that he also hoped that this same argument would not be employed to justify closing EU doors to markets outside the EU.

“I assure the MBB that Labour MEPs can be counted on for common sense solutions,” he said.