EU summit: Fresh financial proposal for Malta 'still unacceptable'

A revised financial package for Malta has been proposed in EU Budget talks at the European Council in Brussels, but Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi told timesofmalta.com last night it was still unacceptable. The European Commission had originally proposed to slash Malta's financial allocation by some €300 million in view of the economic progress the country had made and pressures to reduce the EU Budget.  The summit was suspended at half past midnight and will resume at noon today, allowing time for a raft of new proposals to be studied and discussed informally before formal negotiations continue. Dr Gonzi said the latest figure being proposed for Malta by Council president Herman Van Rompuy meant a slight improvement over previous figures but was still "absolutely unacceptable" for the island, meaning more negotiations are required. He also said that Malta's slight gains were not yet secured and risked being lost by the morning if other countries continued to insist on cuts in the EU's overall budget. Dr Gonzi refused to cite the latest figure on the table but said it was better than the other proposals. Malta obtained €855 million in EU funds for the past seven years...