The Nationalist Party launched more than 100 proposals in its pre-Budget 2020 document on Friday.  

From a nationwide ‘skyline policy’ to new think tanks and a 10% capping on part-time and overtime work, the document is the PN’s counter to the measures that Finance Minister Edward Scicluna will unveil during next month’s Budget 2020 speech. 

In his forward to the document, Opposition leader Adrian Delia says “it is not just about the economy".

“The Nationalist Party is putting forward proposals of how a country can move forward in a balanced and sustainable manner. Our proposals are not being put forward on the eve of an election. We are sharing them now, half way through a legislature, urging government to consider making some of these suggestions its own,” his forward reads. 

You can read the full document here. 

Here is a look at the main proposals put forward by the PN:

Labour market  

• A re-evaluation of the inward migration policy to ensure sustainability. Efforts should be geared towards attracting more high-skilled workers. 

• Private sector workers who work with companies which tender for government work should, as a minimum, have the same working conditions as their equivalent government employees. 

• All work contracts are to include the basic rights of employees as a default. All employers should be obliged to submit an electronic copy of the contract of engagement of work. 

Poverty

 • Adequate pensions that allow pensioners to live decently. 

• Ensure that all school-leavers have the necessary skills and qualifications to benefit from better-paid job opportunities. 

• Eliminate gender pay discrimination. 

• Eradicate cheap and slave labour conditions through better labour-law enforcement; Ensuring a more affordable housing market. 

• Income tax rate paid on part-time work should be reduced from 15% to 10%. 

• Income from work carried out beyond the 40 hours stipulated by law should be considered as part-time work and therefore subject to a flat rate of 10% income tax rate. 

• National Insurance paid by those aged 16-18 should be used to compensate for any missing NI payments made during the subsequent years of employment. 

• Alimony and other child-related payments paid by single parents are to be considered as tax deductible expenses. 

Education

 • Government should dedicate more resources to education research. 

 • More efforts should be carried out to develop students’ abilities and skills.

 • More help for teachers to keep up with the pace and scale of change in their job, and handle stresses caused by it. 

• Introduce a legal framework that includes the necessary guarantees so that teachers can work without fear, intimidation or coercion. 

• Government should dedicate more resources towards improving education facilities. 

• There should be more focus and attention on kindergarten and primary levels, as many of the inherent problems that become more evident at later stages are a side-product of these fundamental years of development. 

 • Government should issue a call for post-doctoral grants. The last call for post-doctoral education grants was issued back in 2015.

Health 

 • More incentives for youths to take up health-related professions. 

 • Mental health facilities to be integrated and treated at par with physical ones.

 • Increased investment in community psychiatric health. 

 • Glucose monitor: government to provide “new” monitors as soon as possible. 

 • More investment in diabetes prevention and care, especially in detecting diabetes earlier on. 

 • Regulation and monitoring of all massage parlours to combat increases in sexually transmitted infections. 

 • More staff for the GU clinic. The 2011 National Health Strategy requires updating to reflect current practices. 

Environment 

 • Government should establish a digital, publicly accessible Knowledge Platform, where professionals, academics, graduates, social partners and NGOs can contribute their experience and scientific research. 

 • Easy and transparent access to information on decisions affecting the environment. 

• Government tenders to be adjudicated on green public procurement criteria. 

• Environment Resources Authority to be given veto powers in Planning Authority board in major development applications in environmentally sensitive localities. 

• Update the Strategic Plan for Environment and Development (SPED) to a more long-term vision up to, say, 2050.

• Fiscal incentives towards high energy efficiency standards in new buildings.

 • Financial incentives for buildings which are designed to meet the NZEB (Near-Zero Energy Buildings) targets. 

• A consultation process to address situations where new building heights overshadow adjacent existing neighbouring solar energy installations.

• Fiscal incentives for roof gardens.

• Ring-fence a percentage of the VAT collected out of retail activities in a locality and allocate it exclusively for the improvement and management of public infrastructure in retail areas in the respective locality.

• Establish a skyline policy for the whole country.

• Establish a Noise Control Board. 

• Studies into the possibility of adopting innovative developments, such as solar roads, in Malta and transform Malta into a leading country in this area.

• Ensure new buildings stick to rules concerning water cisterns for water collection.

• Carry out an audit of all government-owned vehicles and plants to ensure that they comply with relevant standards on emissions and noise.

 • Create a national policy and strategy to green up urban areas. 

Social Matters 

• Establish a set of baseline social rights.

• Adequate old age income and pensions to be included as a baseline social right.

• Introduce a framework for fair wages and conditions that respect human dignity. 

• Reverse the creation of in-work poverty and precarious employment. 

• Positioning social mobility at the core of our model. 

• Move to a system based on equality, fairness and social justice. 

• Establish the rights of the unborn child affording it the maximum protection possible. 

Home Affairs 

• Clean prison from all forms of abuse. 

• All disciplined corps allowances and overtime should be taxed at the part-time rate which the PN is proposing be capped at 10%.

Local Government and Local Planning 

• More attention to social issues afflicting communities.

• Make localities greener.

• Support ailing commercial centres in localities. 

Gozo  

• PN will take a stand on the tunnel once all the relevant studies are finalised and published.

• Provide fiscal incentives to Gozo business operators to help them expand their operations in Gozo. 

• Provide incentives to attract business operators to set up shop in Gozo. 

• Develop a long-term plan to help stop the brain drain that is plaguing Gozo. 

• Provide increased investment for the ITS in Gozo to help encourage more Gozitans to follow a career in Gozo’s tourism industry. The Institute is currently in a state of neglect. 

• Provide incentives for Gozo tourism operators to help them offer favourable work conditions on an all-year round basis. 

• Carry out upgrading and embellishment works in Xlendi, Dwejra and Marsalforn areas – three key tourism spots in Gozo. 

• More bus routes to and from destinations that are heavily frequented. 

• Private sector companies should be given fiscal incentives to organise communal transport services. 

• Government should consider introducing a carbon-neutral transport system for its employees, particularly those that work in and around Valletta. 

• There should be a comprehensive review of Malta and Gozo’s transport inland and inter-harbour network in order to design a network-for-tomorrow.

• Introduce a mass transportation system that will reduce travelling time between main zones in Malta. This system in conjunction with other mass transportation system, including sea ferries and public transport will provide a viable and eco-friendlier alternative to the private car. 

• Schemes in favour of eco-friendly vehicles should be extended. 

• Designate more pedestrian zones in localities. 

Agriculture 

 • The PN would like to see less agriculture land lost to speculation for development purposes and is therefore calling on government to protect all bona-fide farmers by giving them a stronger title on their land. 

• Land used for agriculture purposes should be given special protection also as a means to control the urban sprawl that is decimating our limited countryside. 

Tourism

 • Introduce carrying capacity limitations 

 • Upgrade Malta's tourism product. 

 • Recognise that government's projections on eco-tax for accommodation were way off-target. 

 • Strengthen niche marketing efforts

Manufacturing 

• National effort to encourage Maltese workers to take-on job opportunities in the manufacturing sector. 

• Increased linkage between education institutions and the manufacturing sector.

• Need for logistic facilities that facilitate storage and transportation.

Financial Services 

• Government should appoint an apolitical think tank of experts with years of experience in the financial services sector to ensure that all findings of the MONEYVAL 5th round report are addressed with de-risking measures applied with immediate effect.

• All nine failed sections of the MONEYVAL report to be de-risked within one year in conjunction with establishing a local Financial Task Force as part of the above think tank. 

Promoting innovation

 • Government should establish an innovation hub bringing together the best minds from the private, public and academic sector.

 • Promote Malta as an ideal test-bed to test and launch new technologies and business models on a national scale. 

 • More funds for the Malta Council for Science and Technology.

 • More funding for R&I to University, MCAST, The Institute for Tourism Studies and other teaching institutions.

Remote Gaming 

• Create an iGaming cluster zone, through a public private partnership.

• Create incentives for local entrepreneurs to compete in this sector.

• University and educational institutions need to collaborate more with the gaming sector to offer the most relevant and significant courses and remain up to date with the ever-evolving needs of this sector. 

Retail

• Opposition calling on government to consider the proposals contained in the PN document “Retail Malta”.