PM: EU funding data may have to be reworked using 2010 figures

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said today that the government has not accepted the EU argument that Malta does not qualify for Objective 1 status within the European Union. Furthermore, he said, once there was no agreement on the EU budget, the data for the calculation of Objective 1 status may have to be reworked, using 2010 figures. Replying to questions from Labour MPs after delivering a statement to the House on last week's EU summit, Dr Gonzi said the cut-off date for the calculation of Objective 1 status had been 2009. If the talks continued into the new year and 2010 became the cut-off year, things may change since several countries had gone into crisis in 2010 because of the international financial situation. Malta, therefore would await the final data, but if it did not qualify for Objective 1, it would continue to insist on transitory measures since one could not immediately suffer the economic shock of seeing a sharp drop in funding. Objective 1 status is granted to countries whose development is inferior to 75% of the EU average. Such countries would be eligible for the highest rate of EU assistance. Dr Gonzi explained that during the summit, Malta had been offered a...