EC Report

The report covers a number of topics, namely perceptions on the respondents’ own personal situation, Malta and its economic situation, and the European Union; the policies of the European Union; the Russian invasion of Ukraine; trust in institutions; and media and sources of news. 

Perceptions on own situation 

The perceptions of respondents in Malta about one’s own personal situation are very positive. 94% of respondents stated that they are satisfied with the life they lead. 

When asked to choose the two most important issues they are facing at the moment from a pre-determined set of issues, respondents gave most mentions to rising prices and environment and climate change. 

46% of respondents in Malta stated that they expect their life in general to get better in the next twelve months, while 91% described their household’s financial situation as very good or rather good.

Malta and its economic situation 

Respondents’ views on the major issues facing Malta concern rising prices (61%) and crime (26%). Immigration and the environment and climate change were each mentioned by 15% of respondents. 73% of respondents tended to have positive views on the situation in Malta, describing the current situation in Malta as very good or rather good. 

Perceptions of the European Union 

This wave of the Eurobarometer confirmed again the very positive perceptions respondents have in Malta about the European Union with 73% as very optimistic or fairly optimistic about the future of the European Union. 

Respondents in Malta view EU membership as something very positive for the country with 76% stating that they disagree with the statement that Malta could better face the future outside the EU. 61% of respondents stated that they are in favour of the idea that more decisions are taken at an EU level, with the most important results of EU membership being the free movement of people, goods and services; the euro; and peace among EU Member States. 

Malta scores higher than the EU average in favourable opinions about the EU, with a predominance of positive opinions within the 15-24 age cohort. 83% of respondents believe that NextGenerationEU, the Union’s plan to support the economy through grants and loans, has been an effective measure to respond to the current economic challenges. 

The Russian invasion of Ukraine 

70% of respondents in Malta are very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the response by the Government of Malta to the Russian invasion in Ukraine, and 68% are satisfied with the EU’s response. High peaks of positive opinion have also been reached when considering the EU’s defence of European values and its provision of humanitarian support to people affected by the war. 80% of respondents also consider Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to be a threat to Malta’s security. 

Media and Sources of News 

Another set of questions dealt with media usage and sources of news. 88% of respondents in Malta use the internet every day, especially as a key source of news on European matters. While 90% of respondents stated that they often encounter disinformation, 54% believe that the Maltese media does not provide trustworthy information, and 59% do not believe that the media provides information free from political and commercial pressure.

Ahead of the next European Council meeting that will take stock on the situation, the Commission delivers through these initiatives on some of the key actions set out in President von der Leyen's letter and in the European Council Conclusions of 9 February.

Effective European integrated border management

With this Communication, the Commission sets out the first-ever multiannual strategic policy cycle on European integrated border management for the next 5 years.

This is the result of an extensive consultation process between institutions, leading to a shared vision on external border management. It provides a coordinated framework for national authorities managing the border, as well as for over 120,000 officers of national border authorities and Frontex, steering their daily work.

Over the last decades, replacement has often been prioritised over repair whenever products become defective and insufficient incentives have been given to consumers to repair their goods when the legal guarantee expires. The proposal will make it easier and more cost-effective for consumers to repair as opposed to replace goods. Additionally, more demand will translate into a boost to the repair sector while incentivising producers and sellers to develop more sustainable business models.

This proposal will ensure that more products are repaired within the legal guarantee, and that consumers have easier and cheaper options to repair products that are technically repairable (such as vacuum cleaners, or soon, tablets and smartphones) when the legal guarantee has expired or when the good is not functional anymore as a result of wear and tear.

More than 60 delegations from the European Union, its Member States and partners, including the UN, international and European financial institutions such as the EIB and the EBRD, and other relevant stakeholders met in Brussels to mobilise support for the people in Türkiye and Syria after the devastating earthquakes of February 2023 and to coordinate the response in the affected areas in both countries. The pledging session was chaired by Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi and Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell. Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič gave an address on earthquakes' impact and immediate emergency response in Türkiye and Syria.

The total pledge of this International Donors' conference amounts to €7 billion, of which €6.05 billion in grants and loans for Türkiye and €950 million in grants for Syria. The European Commission and the EU Member States, as well as the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development represent more than 50% of this total pledge of grants, with €3.6 billion.

The funds for Türkiye will be used to cover humanitarian needs and help the reconstruction of the affected regions. The preliminary damage assessment in Türkiye demonstrates very large needs above USD 100 billion with a lot of damage to public infrastructure and residential buildings. The reconstruction efforts will ensure that all international standards for construction in seismic regions are taken into account and also the priorities of the Turkish Green Deal. The funds for Syria will be used to help meet humanitarian needs and support early recovery and resilience.

This is a landmark agreement that will enable the transition to zero-emission transport and contribute to our target of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030.

The new Regulation for the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure (AFIR) sets mandatory deployment targets for electric recharging and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure for the road sector, for shore-side electricity supply in maritime and inland waterway ports, and for electricity supply to stationary aircraft. By making a minimum of recharging and refuelling infrastructure available across the EU the regulation will end consumer concerns about the difficulty to recharge or refuel a vehicle. AFIR also paves the way for a user-friendly recharging and refuelling experience, with full price transparency, common minimum payment options and coherent customer information across the EU.

It will also cut red tape for cross-border businesses, saving around €‎437 million of administrative burden per year, thanks to an EU Company Certificate or the application of the “once-only principle”. The proposal will contribute to further digitalisation of the single market and help companies, in particular, small and medium-sized ones to do business in the EU.

Cutting red tape and administrative burden

To cut red tape and alleviate the administrative burden for cross-border business, the proposed rules include:

• Application of the “once-only principle” so that companies do not need to re-submit information when setting up a branch or a company in another Member State. The relevant information can be exchanged through the Business Registers Interconnection System (BRIS);
• An EU Company Certificate, containing a basic set of information about companies, which will be available free of charge in all EU languages;
• A multilingual standard model for a digital EU power of attorney which will authorise a person to represent the company in another Member State;
• Removing formalities such as the need for an apostille or certified translations for company documents.

Improving transparency and trust in cross-border business

The proposal is updating the existing EU rules for companies (Directive (EU) 2017/1132) to adapt them further to the digital developments and new challenges, and to stimulate growth and competitiveness in the single market.

To ensure greater transparency and trust in companies the proposed rules are intended to:

• Make sure that important information about companies (e.g. about partnerships and groups of companies) is publicly available in particular at EU level through the BRIS;
• Make searches for information about companies in the EU easier by allowing a search through BRIS and, at the same time, through two other EU systems interconnecting national beneficial ownership registers and insolvency registers;
• Ensure that company data in business registers is accurate, reliable and up-to-date, for example by providing for checks of company information before it is entered in business registers in all Member States.

This reflects the message put out by the Representation and Malta Libraries on a bookmark made especially for the day: “Skopri l-Ewropa ktieb ktieb: ibda l-vjaġġ mil-librerija" (Discover Europe book by book: start your trip at the library).  

The Day of European Authors is an initiative led by Commissioner Maya Gabriel, aimed towards reconnecting younger generations with books and helping them discover the diversity of European literature. 

Readings were organised in schools all over Europe, and in Malta, pupils at the Qrendi Primary School were treated to a presentation and a reading by writer Rita Saliba, who was participating on behalf the Akkademja tal-Malti, the local member of the European Writers Council. Walid Nabhan, himself a EUPL winner, also had a reading connected to the Day of European Authors. 

Watch the event recap here

The payment request covers important measures such as the adoption of a strategy to reduce waste through recycling in the construction sector, the establishment of office facilities to enable civil servants to work remotely across the country, reforms to boost industrial research and investments, a national anti-fraud and corruption strategy and reforms to digitalise the justice system.

As for all Member States, payments under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the key instrument at the heart of NextGenerationEU, are performance-based, and depend on Malta implementing the investments and reforms outlined in its national recovery and resilience plan.

On 19 December 2022, Malta submitted to the Commission a first payment request of €52.3 million under the RRF covering 16 milestones and three targets. On 27 January 2023, the Commission endorsed a positive preliminary assessment of Malta’s payment request. The favourable opinion of the Economic and Financial Committee of the Council on Malta’s payment request paved the way for the Commission to adopt a final decision on the disbursement of the funds.

Malta’s overall recovery and resilience plan will be supported by €258.3 million in grants. The amounts disbursed to Member States are published in the Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard, which shows progress made in the implementation of the RRF as a whole and of the individual recovery and resilience plans. Malta has already received a pre-financing of €41.1 million in December 2021.

More information on the RRF payment claim process can be found in this Q&A. More information on Malta’s recovery and resilience plan is available here

The general escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact, which provides for a temporary deviation from the budgetary requirements that normally apply in the event of a severe economic downturn, will be deactivated at the end of 2023. Moving out of the period during which the general escape clause was in force will see a resumption of quantified and differentiated country-specific recommendations on fiscal policy.

Discussions on a revised economic governance framework, based on the Commission's orientations presented in November 2022, are ongoing. Until a new economic governance framework comes into operation and in view of the new post-pandemic reality, it is not appropriate to return to the sole implementation of the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact in force prior to the activation of the general escape clause in 2020.

Given that a new legal framework, based on the outcome of the ongoing economic governance review, is not yet in place, the current legal framework continues to apply. At the same time, to allow for an effective bridge to the future fiscal rules and to take into account current challenges, some elements of the Commission's reform orientations that are consistent with the current legislation could already be incorporated into the fiscal surveillance cycle.

The Commission, therefore, stands ready to propose country-specific recommendations on fiscal policy for 2024 that include a quantitative requirement as well as qualitative guidance on investment and energy measures. These recommendations will be consistent with the criteria proposed in the Commission's orientations, while also remaining consistent with the current legislation under the Stability and Growth Pact.

The meeting first started off with a roundtable introduction of the entities present. This was then followed with a presentation by SEM as the host entity for Europe Direct Valletta and on the preparations leading up to the event being held on Europe Day in Valletta on May 9. Here, the logistical aspects as well as the programme of activities were presented and discussed.

The floor was then taken over by Europe Direct Gozo, who gave an overview of the preparations being undertaken for marking Europe Day in Gozo with a public event to be held on April 29.

This was then followed by a short presentation by the European Parliament Liaison Office in Malta, who gave an update on the efforts already being undertaken in relation to the upcoming 2024 European Parliament Elections and presented an overview of the together.eu website, which the entities were encouraged to access and promote.

Participants hailed from the following entities: Servizzi Ewropej f’Malta, Europe Direct Valletta, Europe Direct Gozo, Europe Direct CORE Platform, European Parliament Liaison Office in Malta (EPLO), European Commission Representation Malta, European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), European Employment Services (EURES), Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST), EU Programmes Agency (EUPA), Strategy & Implementation Division, SOLVIT Malta, European Consumers Centre (ECC Net), Entitlement Unit – Ministry for Health.

This was the first Network of Networks meeting of this year, bringing together EU information providers and national contact points to strengthen collaboration in the provision of several different EU related services to EU citizens in Malta.