National Strategic Reference Framework

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MALTA – National Strategic Reference Framework 2007-2013 Draft Document for Consultation - Declining birth rate - Ageing population - Widening welfare gap - Over-utilization of finite resources - Increased vulnerability of some economic sectors due to globalisation - Inability to reap economies of scale - The burden of over regulation - Reduced competitiveness due to current work practices and reluctance to change these practices Table 3.4 Threats - Risk of loosing heritage sites (funds visà-vis volume) - Volume of tourism to Gozo and high dependence on day trippers - Further environmental degradation and bio-diversity decline - Transport congestion - Insufficient risk prevention measures - Environmental fragility
MALTA – National Strategic Reference Framework 2007-2013 Draft Document for Consultation Chapter 4. Benchmarking Malta with the EU25 4.1 Introduction Malta’s national strategic reference framework aims to assess Malta’s needs and challenges for Malta’s progress within the framework of convergence to European Union benchmarks. Table 4.1 below highlights some structural indicators for Malta and the European Union 25 Member States on economic performance, employment and human capital development, innovation and research and environment in a bid to elucidate on Malta’s comparative position vis-à-vis EU benchmarks. 4.2 Economic Performance In terms of economic performance, Malta’s real economic growth rate has been lagging behind the EU-25 average during the period 2001-2004 (in 2004, a negative rate of 1.5 per cent compared to 2.4 per cent). Declining economic performance is reflected in GDP per capita decreasing from 74.0 in 2001 to 69.2 in 2004. Whereas, Malta’s labour productivity has been registering a deterioration over recent years, total employment growth has recorded a turnaround in 2004. In 2004 Malta’s employment growth was higher than the EU25 average. The indicators for trade integration of goods and services extensively reflect the high degree of openness of Malta’s economy. In 2004, Malta’s trade integration of goods stood at 57.8 per cent compared to the EU25 average of 9.4 per cent. In the same year, Malta’s trade integration of services reached 21.7 per cent compared to the 3.3 per cent for the EU25. Malta exhibits a strong foreign direct investment intensity indicator compared to the EU25 average. On the basis of this comparative performance, Malta acknowledges the need to boost its economic growth fundamentals, improve productivity and foster international competitiveness in the goods and services market. 4.3 Employment In terms of employment, the disparity between the male and female activity rates in comparison to the EU trends is quite evident. However, the consistently lower trend for female employment rates should be seen in terms of the wide socio-cultural factors rather than merely from a restricted economic analysis viewpoint. Malta’s employment rate of older workers and adult participation in education and training are both lower than the average for EU25. Malta’s unemployment rate has consistently been lower than the EU25 average, partly highlighting the resilience of the economy in maintaining employment levels despite sluggish economic growth trends. The low female labour market participation rate partly results from a mixture of socio-economic factors which seem to
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National Strategic Reference Framework

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