‘EU will not save us from ourselves’

Unprecedented amounts of money were invested to improve the environment since EU membership but this alone will not save the island from itself, according to an independent think-tank. The warning is found in a discussion paper documenting the first 10 years of EU membership released this morning by The Today Public Policy Institute, an independent think-tank. Lead author Patrick Tabone, former head of Cabinet for EU Commissioner Joe Borg, argues that EU membership ensured the environment attracted more attention and funds than at any time in Malta’s history. EU-funded environment projects between 2004 and 2013 attracted some €147 million but despite the significant investment, Mr Tabone noted, membership did little to mitigate the country’s most pressing environmental challenge: land use. The major environmental improvements made as a result of EU membership will stand for little if development continues to encroach on “those few special spaces”, he added. “If we insist on further encroaching on our rural spaces – ironically enough, now also in the name of agritourism – then the EU will not be able to save us from ourselves,” Mr Tabone said. The report, Malta’s EU Story, charts...