Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Joe Mizzi hosted Minister for Communications and Works of Cyprus Marios Demetriades, and Minister of Maritime Affairs & Insular Policy of the Hellenic Republic (Greece) Thodoris Dritsas, for the fourth tripartite meeting on maritime affairs with the scope of consolidating a common position on maritime affairs, both at regional and international levels.
Being the three main maritime nations in the European Union, maritime issues are of paramount importance to these countries. This follows three other similar meetings held in Greece, Cyprus and Malta respectively.
The ministers discussed a number of contemporary maritime issues, such as environment protection and green house emissions, the social dimension of shipping, and a debate on ways to further consolidate the coordination between Malta, Cyprus and Greece.
The priorities of Malta’s EU Presidency in the area of maritime affairs were also discussed. Malta will be holding the Presidency of the EU Council from 1st January, 2017.
Minister Mizzi said that Malta, Cyprus and Greece have significant maritime interests in the European Union, and Malta considers it of utmost importance for the three countries to continue strengthening their cooperation in order to ensure their interests are adequately represented and taken into account when policy and legislation are being formulated at both EU and international levels.
