Malta is set to receive some €60 million less from European funds set out to aid member states in recovery post the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is because the country has achieved positive economic growth during the past year, which, following an economic assessment by the European Commission in June, led to the amount of funds allocated to Malta to be revised downwards, Parliamentary Secretary for EU Funds Chris Bonett said during a press conference on Wednesday.
Malta was originally set to receive some €316 million through the Next Generation EU funding program.
“Malta has had the third-largest economic growth in the European Union. In the first quarter of this year, we have achieved the exceptional growth rate of 7.6%,” Bonett said.
However, he assured that none of the projects drawn up in Malta’s recovery plan will be discarded and that the government was current looking into alternative means of funding for these projects.
“At a practical level we will now have to make a choice regarding some of the projects that were planned to be financed through the recovery and resilience plan,” he continued.
“The government has no intention of setting aside any of the projects submitted as part of the recovery plan. These will be implemented through the €2.2 billion soon to be set in motion through the new funding framework.”
Currently, an evaluation exercise is being carried out to determine which projects would be best suited to be transferred through other funding sources, Bonett said.
Malta’s recovery and resilience plan was approved by the EU Council of Ministers for Economic and Financial Affairs in October last year.
The plan includes 17 investment projects and 30 reforms, including projects like the setting up of a carbon-neutral school, a new ITS campus, the digitalisation of the justice system, and new ferry landing spots in St Paul’s Bay and Buġibba.
Bonnett said that implementation of Malta’s recovery and resilience plan is already in full swing, with €41 million in pre-financing going towards 17 reform milestones and two investment milestones already achieved last year.
The government is currently preparing to submit a first payment request of around €60 million in the coming weeks.
Going forward, he continued, the secretariat will be monitoring the progress of 38 milestones and targets due to be achieved by the last quarter of this year, in preparation of a second payment request due to be received next year.