A report measuring each EU member country's progress in meeting Lisbon Agenda targets classifies members into heroes and villains. Countries that already meet many or most of the targets are described as heroes as are those that are catching up at a fast pace. Those that lag behind and make slow progress are designated villains.

According to the report, Malta is difficult to assess because of a lack of data but in the report's league table, the island is, for the second year running, placed last, even behind Bulgaria and Romania, which are not European Union members yet.

The first question that arises is why is it so difficult for Malta to provide the data required for the assessment of performance. Is this due to obstacles in the collection of data or to inadequacies in the statistical compilation set-up? Whatever it is, it is surely time to see that Malta measures up in double quick time to the standard practice in such an important line.

It is useless guessing what placing Malta would have gained in the latest Lisbon scoreboard had all the required data been provided. But seeing Malta placed last is surely not something that ought to be entertained a moment longer than is absolutely necessary.

There is one segment though where Malta is specifically classified as villain - in, of all matters, the upgrading of skills.

There are other areas where Malta is not doing well. In research and development, for example, Malta and Cyprus are the worst performers, with R & D spending standing 0.29 and 0.37 per cent of gross domestic product respectively. Considering the present make-up of manufacturing industry, it is unreasonable to expect any great progress in this line.

According to the report, new member states face especially acute challenges in their capacity for innovation. In fact, the Commission estimates that it will take Malta, Poland and Slovakia some 50 years to reach the EU-25 average innovation performance.

In their report on the Lisbon scoreboard, the Centre for European Reform said the EU's better regulation agenda was not only about curbing red tape. Businesses, it said, could not take full advantage of the single market if key legislation was not properly implemented throughout the EU. It was crucial that member states implemented EU legislation in a timely and efficient manner.

EU governments had promised to transpose 98.5 per cent of single market legislation by March 2002. The better performance of the new member states in this line probably reflected their recent experience in adopting the EU's acquis under heavy time pressure in the run-up to accession. Germany and Malta made the most progress.

This is not bad at all, but apart from the transposition of laws, there is, of course, much that has yet to be done to cut red tape and create an environment that actually encourages entrepreneurship.

In line with the Lisbon programme, the government is committed to ease burdensome regulations for small- and medium-sized enterprises. Borrowing from Commission President Josè Manuel Barroso's quote, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said his government was determined to offer businesses a red carpet treatment instead of red tape. An internal exercise aimed at reducing the regulatory burden for small firms is expected to be completed by the end of June.

Taking Malta out of the last place in the Lisbon scoreboard may be a tough nut to crack for a government facing so many difficulties, but it can be done if the reform exercise is carried out at greater speed than that shown up till now.