Malta is disputing the proposed criteria for the allocation of EU funds for the post COVID-19 economic recovery, because they penalise countries which have worked hard to get their economy in good order, the prime minister said on Sunday.
Robert Abela is in Brussels for an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders.
He said the talks are progressing slowly and member states are unlikely to reach an agreement by Sunday evening.
The initial blueprint of a €750 billion recovery package to kickstart economies ravaged by the coronavirus and its attendant lockdowns ran into stiff resistance on Friday from the member states known in Brussels as the “Frugals".
European Council president and Brussels talks host Charles Michel met late into the night on Friday with President Emmanuel Macron of France and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel to thrash out a new package.
The rescue package is an addition to the planned €1,074 billion seven-year EU budget from 2021 to 2027 that the leaders must also agree on in the coming weeks or months.
Speaking to the Labour Party's One Radio, Abela said Malta had an issue with the criteria on which member states were considering basing the financing.
He said the talks had looked into whether financing should be based on two factors: the level of unemployment in recent years, or the impact of the pandemic on the expected GDP for the next two years.
Abela said basing the funding on these two factors alone was not acceptable for Malta.
“We are asking why we should be penalised for having worked hard over the past few years to drastically cut unemployment. And the same goes for our economy - Malta is expected to be the best performer coming out of the pandemic, but the commission should reward and not penalise those countries which have been prudent and are now being successful,” he said.
Abela said Malta’s position was shared by other member states which had also argued for other mechanisms to decide on the allocation of funding.
'Good governance and rule of law'
The prime minister added that on Saturday much of the discussion revolved around good governance and rule of law, two issues that have plagued Malta in recent years.
Abela said the commission had acknowledged the strides being made locally in these two areas, saying Malta now had the moral authority to talk about these issues at the European negotiating table.
“You can see it in the sense of respect being shown to use by our neighbours and European partners. This is why it is important to address these matters head on,” he said.
Abela said he was not too hopeful that European leaders would reach an agreement by Sunday evening.
However, he would be pushing for the talks to be concluded “in the coming days and weeks”.
The same was true of the next seven-year European budget, which comes into force in January, he added.
“We cannot drag our feet on this. An agreement will have to be reached,” he said.