PN MEP Peter Agius said that there were positive initial efforts on the part of the government for the island to invest in technical and administrative capacity to properly compete for larger spots.
Agius went on to add that time may be critical, however, for Malta to negotiate and secure hundreds of millions in EU funding for a mass transport mechanism. As such, in a report commissioned by Agius, he added that the island could miss out if it fails to lobby for this project now.
The report argues that the much-needed mass transit system is a project with an intimidating price tag that both parties, besides most NGOs, tend to support. This project has the potential to be part of the majority, and possibly even the largest, of the funding that Malta could secure from competitive EU sources, which it has not yet seriously pursued.
The Times of Malta had accessed a draft of this referred report, which is expected to be published during the coming weeks. Prepared with the help of the European Parliament’s research services, the document provides information on multiple ways EU funds can be utilised by Malta to get out of its traffic woes.
The report highlights 2 major funds, which are the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and the ETS Innovation Fund. Both referred funds tend to be highly competitive, needing well-prepared and detailed bids.
Critically, these funds offer extra financing and do not detract from Malta’s traditional EU budget, meant primarily for agriculture, infrastructure and other pre-assigned projects. However, Malta may need to compete directly against other EU member states to secure the financing.
However, Malta risks missing out on this funding source if it fails to lobby for its needs during ongoing negotiations over the new EU funding package.
A core problem remains in the background that ironically Malta’s reflected recent economic success. This was reflected when the island’s wealth (GDP per capita) currently moved quite high at around 105% of the EU’s average. As such, Malta is now to be classified as a ‘more developed region’ by the EU commencing from the 2028 -2034 budget cycle.
