A post-COVID economic recovery plan approved by the Cabinet on Monday places a strong focus on the environment and the digital transformation, the prime minister told parliament on Wednesday.
He also said he had agreed to an Opposition request for the plan to be discussed in parliament. The debate will be held on Thursday morning.
The plan, which details how to spend €320 million in EU post-pandemic recovery funds, must be approved by the European Commission before it can come into effect.
According to funding rules, 37 per cent of funds must be spent on emission-cutting initiatives and a further 20 per cent must be reserved for actions related to digital transformation.
In comments as part of a statement on the latest EU summit meeting, held a few days ago, Abela detailed some of Malta's plans.
They include funding the transition to electric cars and public transport, the digital transformation of public services and health systems, including the building of a new blood bank, investment in schools, and climate change.
'Emotive' discussion about Hungary and LGBTIQ+
Abela spoke on how the EU leaders had discussed migration and the need to help countries of origin and of transit, the latter including Libya, where concrete action was needed to bring about stability and to improve security at its borders.
He said there had been an emotive and occasionally confrontational discussion in the summit about Hungary’s controversial new laws affecting LGBTIQ+ people.
Malta, he said, was proud of its progressive reforms which had improved the rights and lives of a considerable number of people. It insisted that gender discrimination was unacceptable, but it also called for dialogue among all concerned.
On COVID-19 he said that Malta looked forward to linking up with the EU Green Certificate process on Thursday to facilitate travel and business. The EU was learning lessons from the crisis and planning ahead to improve its capacity building to deal with any other such crises in the future and protect the internal market, he said.
Abela also insisted that the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in Malta would continue to be cautious to avoid undue risks. Not to do so would be immature and irresponsible.