UK to support Malta's Objective 1 status

Foreign Minister Michael Frendo has won Britain's backing for Malta's claim to retain eligibility for Objective 1 status funds from the EU in the next budget.

Dr Frendo discussed the issue with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in London late last week.

"The UK appreciates Malta's position on retaining full Objective 1 status for the period 2007-2013," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday.

Dr Frendo had stated Malta's position at a meeting of the EU's General Affairs and External Relations Council last month.

Malta is at risk of losing that status - and the highest level of EU aid - because its GDP rose marginally above 75 per cent of the EU average in 2000-2003. But the Maltese government is insisting that figures that include 2003 should also be considered. Those figures show Malta's GDP at slightly below the 75 per cent threshold for eligibility.

Dr Frendo said that Malta and the UK had strong historical, social, cultural and linguistic ties, which would be given value both in bilateral relations and in the context of EU membership.

He explained that, with regard to Objective 1 status for Malta, the statistical effect must not be allowed to limit Malta's entitlement to funds since this did not reflect actual economic growth but was simply an issue of statistics in view of new member states joining the EU, which lowered the average per capita GNP in the Union as a whole.

He also argued that the formula for distribution of cohesion funds took into account sparsely populated regions of the EU but made no allowance for densely populated areas such as Malta.

Mr Straw thanked Malta for its support on the debate in the EU on the proposed Working Time Directive (where both countries are seeking opt-outs). Both ministers said that the two countries were like-minded on a number of issues, including this directive and also issues relating to taxation.

The Maltese Foreign Minister and the British Foreign Secretary also discussed issues relating to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) due to be held in Malta in November as well as Malta's role in the Mediterranean, Pakistan's position in the Commonwealth, the EU China embargo and climate change.

Dr Frendo said the discussions reflected the closeness and excellence of the relations between Malta and the UK.

Dr Frendo also attended a meeting of the Commonwealth Ministers Action and was guest at a dinner hosted by Commonwealth Secretary General, Don MacKinnon.

The Commonwealth Action Group criticised Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf for reneging on his promise to give up his dual role as President and army chief of staff in December .

Dr Frendo also had a meeting with the secretary general of the International Maritime Organisation, Efthimios Mitropoulos.

They discussed the need for a shipping and maritime policy which "is holistically approached within the European Union" and the need to ensure that more people were attracted to work as mariners and officers, the ministry said.

Items discussed included the problem of illegal immigration and how this is effecting Malta.

Mr Mitropoulos said he had written to the maritime ministers of the EU25 to express his concern on the issue of criminalisation of liability and the need to ensure that the IMO was engaged in measures on standards which have been at the heart of its activities to further better shipping, safer seas, and a stronger economic maritime transport sector.

Dr Frendo also had meetings with the Commonwealth Business Council and Comnet-IT.

On Friday Dr Frendo also paid an official visit to the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation headquarters in London.

Anthony De Bono, CTO chairman, who was accompanied by the director of business development, Nick Cabrera, and the director of corporate affairs, Dr Lasantha De Al-wis, welcomed Minister Frendo and his delegation and introduced them to all the members of the staff.

Mr De Bono gave an overview of the operations of the CTO, notably after the latest changes of the CTO's constitution and last year's total overhaul of the executive management structures.

The important role the CTO has assumed in spearheading the evolution of ICTs, primarily in Commonwealth countries, remarkably through its drive in monitoring the progress of member nations in the development and implementation of national information and communication technology plans, featured prominently in the discussions.

Minister Frendo was also briefed on current CTO initiatives, which include:

the Sea Gate project, where the CTO is to be become a partner in the development of a major maritime ICT application product and service, aimed at using new technologies to improve security, monitoring and operational efficiencies of sea-going vessels in a single, and integrated platform;

the setting up of an Alternate Dispute Resolution Centre, which is part of the organisation's widening remit to promote itself as a problem-solving organisation in the wake of the growing number of disputes between commercial operators, regulators and governments in CTO member countries;

the CTO's roadmap for its member institutions on national ICT planning and implementation process; and

the need for donor agencies to engage in effective multilateral and multisectoral consultation and exchange of their respective requirements and procedures to mainstream and scale up the use of ICTs in the development progression.

Dr Frendo acknowledged the proactive stance being taken by the CTO in its drive to develop ICTs in the Commonwealth countries and expressed satisfaction for the fact that the CTO, an organisation with a history of more than a century in existence and responsible for 58 member nations, has departed from its traditional role and initiated an intensive process of change in its mandate, particularly in the establishment of a commercial culture to compete in business, especially from funding agencies and the private sector.

Against this background Dr Frendo and Mr De Bono looked forward with optimism on the effective role that the CTO will continue to pursue markedly in the build-up to CHOGM.

They expressed confidence that during the planned March preparatory meeting at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, when agencies involved in developing and implementing the Commonwealth Action Programme for the Digital Divide (CAPDD) will convene, an effective role will be defined for the CTO to play a determining part, in synergy, with other Commonwealth agencies.

This would go a long way to helping the CTO and its member countries achieve their Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) action plan targets through the use of ICTs.