A choice in our country’s best interests

I launched this campaign last December and have since tried my utmost to meet or correspond with as many of you as possible. From here I thank you for all your support, encouragement and feedback.

These months of campaigning came to a head this morning when I addressed my final press conference before Saturday’s vote. We need to take this election seriously and choose who the candidates we think would best represent us for the next five years in the European Parliament – an institution that decides on matters that are of concern to us all.

If I am entrusted to be one of your MEP’s in this coming legislature top of my agenda will be working towards

- Increasing the job opportunities for Maltese and Gozitans

- Overcoming the challenge posed by illegal immigration

- Ensuring a cleaner and healthier environment

- Continuing to strengthen our Education system

I firmly believe that in the coming five years our country deserves to be represented by people whose political beliefs are based on the values of solidarity, subsidiarity, democracy, tolerance and the respect for Human Rights.

The PN has a proven track record and will continue to work for Malta’s membership of the EU to continue to translate into more and better opportunities for all Maltese and Gozitan families. Today we have a voice that is being heard in Europe and our country is managing to convince fellow Member States to take decisions in the best interest of Malta. A perfect tangible example of this is the fact that Malta managed to negotiate successfully for VAT not to be charged on food and medicine.

Allow me this opportunity to thank all those who have helped me in this campaign and once again appeal to everyone who has not yet picked up their voting document to do so and to go out to vote on Saturday!

Thank you all.

Creating more and better jobs

Our quality of life depends on the creation of more and better employment opportunities for us all.

The objectives envisaged by the European Commission and Malta in their employment strategies need to be reached. Things can be done on a European level to boost our competitiveness in this area. Attracting investment, continued training and skill diversification for workers in a large range of categories and age groups, coupled with proper planning of EU and national programmes to make sure we continue to invest in the jobs of the future, need to remain a high priority. At the same time we need to focus on tapping EU funds aimed at re-training and supporting job seekers

As a mother of two, I am also well aware of the vast potential benefit for the Maltese economy that is yet to be unleashed through more empowerment of and participation of women in the workplace. The EU is giving this aspect the importance it deserves but there remains a lot more we can do locally in this area, through support from EU funds and by building real political momentum in this direction. Participation of women in the labour market is an area where we lag behind other states. We can learn by observing good practices across the EU and adapting them to the Maltese reality and by utilising available EU funds in a better more effective manner. Flexible work practices through the strengthening of a holistic parental leave system and the provision of more and better child care facilities need to be encouraged. The recent opening of a child-care centre in MCAST and the Government’s decision to grant a tax-break to new mothers are testament to the government’s commitment in this area. Of course, more can and must be done, but we are on the right track.

EU funds should be made use of in order for us to work towards reaching EU childcare provision targets. At the same time more value has to be given by employers to a person’s need to have time with his or her family - thus more flexible working arrangements are necessary. We can benefit in this regard through the exchange of best practices with other EU Member States. If exploited properly by businesses this would lead to a more competitive economy and encourage more women to participate in the labour market.

The turbulent international and financial climate we live in however continues to throw harsher challenges at us. Living up to these challenges will need a continued strong leadership on national level, and backing from Malta’s five MEPs on a European level– who all need to pull the same rope if we are to deliver the best possible results for our country.

This is why this election is so important. We need people who know what they’re doing, know how to achieve results and who will be able to open doors for the benefit of all Maltese and Gozitans.

Entitlement not Charity

I’ve just had the opportunity to meet with a number of parents, children and NGOs involved with working with and for the disabled. These are a group of people that face sometimes overwhelming financial and social challenges and difficulties to care for themselves and their children in the best possible way.

It is unacceptable that in this day and age people are still affronted by social stigmas which is coupled with severe financial problems simply in an effort to live as we all do. During the meeting the main question preying on parents’ minds remains that of what will happen to their children if something should ever happen to them. I cannot imagine a more preoccupying thought than worrying that should something happen to you, your child will be faced with an uncertain future. This is an area of concern that desperately needs to be addressed.

We need to tackle the issues faced by disabled people in getting a job while ensuring they are not discriminated against on the work place. If I am elected to represent Maltese and Gozitans in the European Parliament I will work towards the EPP objective of having people with a disability be able to participate in society without restrictions and free from discrimination. I will work actively within the European Parliament All Party Group on Disability for stronger legislation on a European level to ensure that every person is afforded the same treatment and to encourage the increased participation of people with a disability in the labour market to ensure they can find sustainable employment , not remain dependent on social services and be afforded the dignity we all deserve.

That said and while a lot still needs to be done, we’ve come a long way in last years - we are on the road to ensuring equality. The Government, the KNPD, NGOs and parents' associations in the sector have done great work in raising the profile of this issue with the public and with tackling a number of the issues associated with the disabled , be it through individual advice or through legislative initiatives..One concrete example, that has improved the lives of many, is that every new building that is accesible to the public, must be certified by the KNPD as accessible to people with physical disabilities before planning permission is granted.

The EU too has moved on this issue. The EU was instrumental in the United Nations adopting the Convention on the rights of people with a disability and is in the process of ratifying it – within this convention are measures that prohibit discrimination against people in the workplace and in vocational education and training. As a nation, we need to do everything possible to speed up this process of ratification.

As one participant in the meeting pointed out, we need to continue to move away from the mentality that treating people with a disability equally is equivalent to an act of charity – it is not. It’s entitlement.

We are all consumers

In a press conference that I held this morning in Birkirkara I announced that I have just endorsed The European Consumers’ Association (BEUC)’s Europe-wide consumer-pact.
The Consumer Pact is a document that is intended to be used a political guide for Members of the European Parliament and for everyone contesting the EP elections. The results of the Eurobarometer Survey of last September show that 70% of European consumers are ready to defend their rights in court if they are given the real opportunity to join other consumers who have the same difficulty. This clearly shows the need for consumer rights to be given increased importance on a European level.

I’ve endorsed this pact as consumer rights have been a central part of my campaign for the EP elections and will be one of my priorities if I am elected to represent Maltese and Gozitans at the European Parliament. In the past weeks I have tried to show how consumers can benefit if they are given the backing they need from politicians – the campaign to remove time-windows from pre-paid mobile phone top-up cards is further proof of this.

The pact covers eight main commitments, all of which are close to me and have been central to my election campaign over the past months. The themes are Energy & Sustainability; Financial Services; Consumer Contracts, Food; Digital World; Health; Safety and Group Action.

I believe that the European Parliament must always keep European citizens at the centre of its mission statement. Consumer issues fall within the category of the bread and butter issues faced on a daily basis by European citizens. In a time of economic difficulty, restoring consumer confidence is one of the keys towards finding a solution. This consumer pact specifically covers all these themes and ensuring its implementation can only help strengthening credibility in the EU and its institutions and their ability to make a difference in the everyday life of EU citizens who also happen to be consumers.

Below is a brief summary of the eight commitments I have signed up to from the BEUC website:

ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY
COMMITMENT
Guarantee all EU consumers access to the energy services of their choice without compromising the needs of current and future generations. Ensure consumer goods and services are sustainable and accessible for all; enable consumers to act ‘sustainably’ easily.

FINANCIAL SERVICES
COMMITMENT
Guarantee access to secure, affordable, transparent, fair and efficient financial services.

CONSUMER CONTRACTS
COMMITMENT
Strengthen consumers rights when buying goods and services on and off-line, and make them future-proof.

FOOD
COMMITMENT
Help consumers to easily make informed choices, improve access to safe and healthy foods and promote sustainable food production & consumption.

DIGITAL WORLD
COMMITMENT
Empower consumers to play a central role in a safe, fair and competitive digital market.

HEALTH
COMMITMENT
Put consumers’ health first: promote high quality information and health care for all.

SAFETY
COMMITMENT
Ensure safer products and reduce consumer and environmental exposure to dangerous chemicals.

GROUP ACTION
COMMITMENT
Fully compensate all EU consumers who have suffered damages caused by the same trader.

You can read more and download the full pact here
http://www.consumerpact.eu/

www.mep2009.eu

Last Saturday, at the Tal-Qroqq Skate Park, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi officially launched the new website www.mep2009.eu. The website has been described by PN Secretary General, Paul Borg Olivier as a ‘virtual pjazza’. It combines the views of various different bloggers all of whom come from different walks of life and is an online portal where everyone can give their opinion on the upcoming MEP elections on June 6th.

Log on, check it out and become part of the debate!

You can read Roberta’s contribution to the site here.

A boost to the economy

I’m glad my eldest son is beginning to discover the joys of Playmobil. A couple of days ago I had the opportunity to join the Prime Minister, and fellow MEP candidates, on a tour of Playmobil’s Hal Far base. When the winds of the economic crisis continue to blow across the world, it was heartening to see that the company, headed by Helga Ellul, not only employs some 800 people running shifts 24-hours a day, seven days a week, but announced that it is to invest a further 6 million Euros over the next year.

Playmobil has become something of a Maltese institution and has been expertly guided through this crisis – so much so that it has seen an increase in its exports over the last 12 months.

In an excellent example of industry-education cooperation, the company is developing cutting edge research in their IT department, with ICT graduates from UoM and MCAST, and collaborates in a training programme with MCAST. Increasing the links between higher education and industry is being pushed both on a Maltese and European level as one way of combating the financial crisis as well as a method to increase the employability of graduates by ensuring their skills, knowledge and competencies are relevant to the labour market.

Now there’s a true success story.

University Debate

I'm managing to post this having returned from a discussion event I hosted on our University campus. yesterday It was a fantastic feeling returning to the quadrangle and being able to have a one-on-one question and answer session with the many students that attended. The fact that it was held hot on the heels of the launch of Malta’s higher education strategy for 2020 and on the same day that Minister Cristina is signing a new Bologna Process communiqué in Belgium made it even more significant. The Bologna Process started in 1999 as an intergovernmental education reform initiative. It now consists of 46 countries whose Ministers of Education meet every two years to discuss the progress made in higher education reforms and to plot the way ahead in setting up a European Higher Education Area where all national systems are compatible and comparable with one another allowing for increased student mobility, better degree recognition, increased quality in education, a better credit system and more.

The debate was moderated by Peppi Azzopardi and Julia Farrugia who also took the opportunity to ask any pressing questions they thought of – I wanted to keep the event as open and free as possible so I did not limit it to a particular topic and preferred instead to allow students to ask whatever they saw fit to question. It was refreshing to see that interest in these EP elections remains high on campus and questions ranged from whether I faced any particular difficulties as a female candidate, to how I cope as a wife, mother and candidate, to illegal immigration, education and the environment – in particular the need for faster reform of MEPA.

The hour flew by and – too early it seemed - I was forced to rush to another radio programme and continue my house visits…I hope I will have the opportunity to return to campus or perhaps MCAST and ITS to continue where I left off before the end of this campaign.

In the meantime, as always, please continue to send any questions, comments or feedback you may have directly to roberta@roberta2009.eu!

Be in touch.