The Labour Party this morning launched its campaign for the European Parliament elections, with Labour leader Joseph Muscat saying his party was proud of its track record in the European Parliament.
"When one sees our track record, one can see that we made major achievements which benefited Maltese families," Dr Muscat told a press conference.
He said that Labour MEPs had worked and campaigned for the removal of the tax on satellite dishes, the departure tax, VAT on vehicle registration tax and roaming charges on mobile phones.
Labour MEPs had worked to ensure that consumers were not burdened with the costs of the registration of medicines, they had helped SMEs and NGOs access EU funding, and they had campaigned for the adoption by the government of the Late Payment Directive.
Labour had also helped ensure that the Frontex budget was raised by €30m and it had backed the proposal by the socialist group for the creation of the EU Asylum Agency.
Dr Muscat said other areas where Labour MEPs had worked included the reduction of emissions at the power stations.
Dr Muscat said the top priorities for labour in the new European Parliament would be job creation, controlling inflation and fighting illegal immigration.
Labour would seek to introduce a mandatory system of moratoriums on the repayment of bank loans when workers were made redundant.
It would seek to attract funds for the creation of ‘green jobs’ and it would work with the socialist group on a European jobs pact.
Labour MEPs would continue to defend the workers' right to decide how much overtime they worked.
They would also work for the opening of more child care centres to enable more women to go out to work.
On illegal immigration, Dr Muscat said Malta should shoulder its share of the problem, but not more than that. Labour had already been assured of support by the socialist group and it would work for the implementation of its plan of action.
Dr Muscat said health and patient mobility was another priority. People on waiting lists should be given a date for their operation and if waiting time targets were not met, patients should have a right for treatment in other hospitals.
Labour would only continue to campaign and act for the government to refund VAT charged on vehicle registration tax.
The Opposition leader said another area of activity for Labour was to ensure, government accountability for damages suffered by consumers, even if a car was damaged because of a pothole owing to poor maintenance.
The Labour delegation to the European Parliament would seek to offer internships and scholarships for young Maltese in European institutions.
Dr Muscat said the Labour MEPs would be bound to the code of ethics on the use of funds. The Labour MEPs would also have an office in Gozo to be readily available to those who needed their services.
Dr Muscat said Labour was presented an exceptional team of candidates which would do the country proud. These were candidates which all the people could relate to, and they would help being about an injection of confidence in the Maltese people.
The people, he said, They needed to believe that despite the government’s broken promises, there could be a better tomorrow