Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-06-12-Speech-3-162"
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"en.20020612.5.3-162"2
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".
Mr President, Mr de Miguel, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, having provisionally closed 22 chapters in the negotiation statistics – although this cannot be taken as the sole criterion – Malta has lost a little of its dynamism. Like all the other accession candidates, not only are specific chapters open, so too, of course, are the major areas of agricultural, regional and budgetary policy. However, economic development has been positive, and the budget deficit has been substantially reduced.
In terms of Malta's alignment with and implementation of Community law, Malta has made substantial progress as regards labour legislation and health and safety in the workplace. In the area of competition, further efforts are needed to strengthen administrative capacity. However, Malta is not alone in this respect.
What is also positive is that Malta has created a suitable legal framework for the development of investments and the restructuring of SMEs. There are still shortcomings in the environmental field and in preparing the structures needed to implement the EU's regional and agricultural policies. However, here too, the European Commission is called upon to respond to Malta's specific agricultural structure, which is based on small farms, its traditional taxation system, or the specific trade conditions resulting from its island status. We should also support Malta's claim to six seats in the European Parliament.
I hope that Malta's accession process will speed up again in the coming months, and that when the Commission's report is presented on 16 October 2002, Malta will be included as one of the candidates for the first round of accessions.
Finally, as the Chairman of the Delegation to the EU-Czech Republic Joint Parliamentary Committee, I should like to comment on the highly sensitive issue of the Beneš decrees. I welcome the fact that the European Parliament is pointing out that discriminatory provisions which conflict with the acquis communautaire must be abolished before accession to the European Union, and I hope that after the elections in the Czech Republic, this issue can be resolved in an objective way.
As regards the issue of nuclear safety, I would like to emphasise in particular that the European Parliament should maintain adherence to the closure dates for dangerous and non-upgradable power stations – not only Ignalina, but also Kosloduj and Bohunice."@en1
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