“Let’s restore faith in the European Project”
Both the Maltese Government and the European Commission are looking forward to restoring faith in the European Project, regaining citizens’ trust, and imparting a new momentum to the EU during Malta’s Presidency.
This prospect was at the centre of discussions that took place yesterday when the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Louis Grech, met with Commission Vice-President Mr Frans Timmermans, at a meeting at the Auberge d’Aragon, for which Dr Ian Borg, Parliamentary Secretary for EU Funds and the Maltese Presidency, was also present.
Malta will host the Presidency of the Council between January and June 2017.
Amongst key priorities that were discussed during the meeting were migration; the completion of the Single Market, the Digital Single Market and the Capital Markets Union; maritime policy; and the Mediterranean policy dimension.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Commission Vice President discussed various aspects of the Commission's 2017 Work Programme, especially following the
Bratislava Declaration some weeks ago. This will chart the Commissions priorities for 2017 and will be the driver during the Maltese Presidency.
Views were exchanged on the question of Brexit, particularly now that the U.K.
Government has announced that it will trigger Article 50 of the Treaty in March. Complex issues will be tackled, on which Malta is committed to live up to its role as President by acting to bring the two sides together for a mutually satisfactory resolution of the issues concerned.
On migration, the two sides agreed on the importance of solidarity. One example of this would be consensus on having a common European Asylum System, reflecting a common responsibility to provide protection to those that need it.
Mr Grech and Mr Timmermans also concurred on the need to accelerate the work being done on the external dimension of the migration problem. They envisage that important features of this are facilitation of returns in cases where the application for asylum has been rejected, as well as migration compacts with African countries of origin and transit.
Security is one of the major concerns of European citizens. In this regard, both sides agreed on the need to continue working on practical measures to upgrade information exchange between the authorities.
Matters related to the General Affairs Council were also discussed, including the rule of law; the Inter-Institutional Agreement which regulates the relationship between the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament; and the review of the Multi-Financial Framework. These are important dossiers that will be on the agenda of the General Affairs Council during the Maltese Presidency.
The Deputy Prime Minister also referred to the upcoming commemoration of the 60 th anniversary of the existence of the European Union, which he said
“will continue to add a symbolic dimension to our Presidency”.
