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.