CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 01/2017

LE MONDE MALTA
An evening view of Victoria, the commercial
and administrative center of Gozo, with its
majestic citadel towering over the castle.
FACTS &
FIGURES
The magnificent interior of the St. John‘s
Cathedral, built between 1572 and 1577, is
one of the finest examples of
Baroque art in Europe.
Don‘t miss out visiting one of the
traditional glass blowing shops . It is
traditional handicraft at its best.
has welcomed in 2016. Because Valletta, along with
Leeuwarden in Friesland, will be Europe‘s Capital of
Culture 2018, such record tourism figures might not
have reached the ceiling yet.
With the beginning of this year, Malta has taken
over the Presidency of the European Union for
the first half of 2017, thus moving into the focus of
European politics which has to confront severe problems
as well internally as externally. ”Malta’s EU Presidency
comes at a time when Europe is facing great
challenges“, says Keith Azzopardi, the Ambassador of
the Republic of Malta to Austria in an interview with
Cercle Diplomatique, starting at page 38. ”People are
sending clear signals to the EU, amid growing populism
in Europe and beyond. Therefore, our core mission
is to listen to what people are saying and to bring
Europe closer to the people.“
So Malta has chosen the theme „Re-Union“ as the
core of its Presidency, with issues like single market,
social inclusion, security or Europe‘s neighbourhood
on the top of the long list of priorities. Plus, to no
surprise, migration – the number one topic in Europe
for about two years. After the closing of the refugee
route from the Middle East via Turkey and
Greece, all the way through the Western Balkans into
the heartland of the continent in 2016, the dangerous
crossing of the Mediterranean sea – which actually
has turned into a graveyard for thousands of African
refugees, while another 181,000 more lucky ones
have reached Italian shores last year – is back in the
focus of European migration politics again.
Once the Mediterranen may have been regarded
as, in the lyric words of David Abulafia, a historian,
as “the most vigorous place of interaction between
different societies on the face of the planet”. But today,
for Europe it represents only danger and instability.
So, as a matter of fact, Malta’s presidency, according
to the official wording, draws attention to the
Mediterranean’s “ongoing conflict, socioeconomic
challenges, terrorism, radicalisation and humanrights
violations”.
Chief among these concerns, of course, is migration
which is nothing new for Malta. Between 2002
and 2012 thousands of refugees fleeing war-torn African
states like Somalia and Eritrea threatened to
overwhelm the tiny island. Utterly unprepared for
the arrivals, the Maltese shoved them into what critics
called grim detention centres, which remain
open today. Malta’s bid for solidarity from its EU
PHOTOS: MALTA TOURISM
partners went nowhere. And in addition its relationship
with Italy soured in rows over responsibility for
migrants picked up at sea.
Thanks to a, some say, ”mysterious deal“ between
Italy and Malta not acknowledged by either side until
today, things have changed in the meantime and
only few irregular migrants now disembark on the
islands of Malta. But the central Mediterranean route,
which now runs almost exclusively between Libya
and Italy, has Europe‘s attention again and therefore
been the primary issue at the last EU Summit held in
early February in Valletta.
In preparation for this event, Joseph Muscat, the
Prime Minister of Malta, has courted leaders of European
and African countries in a diplomatic tour de
force to promote his bigger idea for a grand solution
in the Mediterranean region. He wants the EU to
strike deals with African countries similar to that agreed
with Turkey in March 2016, which drastically
slowed the flow of migrants to Greece.
Parts of this plan had already leaked during the
week before the summit. For example, joint naval patrols
of North African waters, mainly with the marine
forces of the still highly unstable Libya or the need
for additional financial help in return to migration
control efforts. Even the old notion of offshore asylum-processing
centres in countries like Egypt and
Tunisia has been revived during discussion ahead of
the gathering.
Many of them have been agreed upon at the high
level meeting last February with the so called Malta
Declaration, which is regarded as a milestone in
addressing the migration crisis on which Europe‘s
countries are deeply divided. For instance, the importance
of having stable, secure and proper institutions
in Libya, which has become a haven for smugglers
from where they send migrants to Europe, has
officially been acknowledged. Also, EU leaders commited
themselves to increase their efforts to disrupt
the business model of this cruel and murderous human
trafficking. And they promised to come up with
the necessary resources, mainly financially, to train
and equip the Libyian national coast guards to
strengthen their boarder management capacities.
”So the EU is finally committed towards securing
its southern border through concrete actions agreed
upon in Malta“, Ambassador Azzopardi is summing
up the results of the Summit. And he is adding to
that: ”Something that Malta has for many years been
calling for.“
This positive outcome of the EU Summit in February
is not the only success story Malta has delivered
in recent years. In regard to its economy, it is one
of the best performing countries of the European Union,
due to a strictly applied national reform and stability
program imposed by the European Commission
in 2012. Malta‘s GDP, albeit nominally only 24.3 billion
dollars small, has been growing at a rate of 4.1 percent
in 2016, faster than most EU countries. Furthermore,
with a mere 5 percent, the unemplyment rate is
lower than EU average, and investment activities – in
2016 alone, Malta was able to attract some 160 billion
Euros of foreign direct investment – and domestic
consumption are amongst the strongest in Europe.
”The services sector is the stronghold of Malta’s
economy, contributing to almost 80 percent of its
GDP and employing more than 70 percent of the
country’s workforce“, Gudrun Hager, Austria‘s Commercial
Counsellor for Malta, reports (see page 43).
”Also industries such as gaming, financial services
and banking, IT and tourism are flourishing. Besides
services, manufacturing of high-tech products and
components for the automotive, electronics and medical
industries have become one of the mainstays of
the country‘s economy.“
Many experts, looking for a cure for the ailing
economy in Europe, are turning their eyes to the
Malta miracle. The country has managed to keep its
souvereign debt at a Maastricht-conform level of
around 60 percent of its GDP and is enjoying a budget
deficit of only 0.7 percent. Its tourism sector is
thriving and expected to employ some 35 percent of
the workforce in 2025. Thanks to its liberal regulations,
Malta also has become Europe‘s capital of interactive
gaming, hosting some 283 online gaming and
betting companies which also boost the IT and software
sector and already contribute nearly 10 percent
to the GDP. In part, this has been triggered by the
”Digital Malta Program“ which already has convinced
companies like HP, Cisco and Microsoft to set
up training centers on the island. Finally, the real estate
market is booming, car-sharing and E-mobility
are top government priorities, as well as the promotion
of renewable energy sources and the construction
of efficient waste diposal plants – the latter representing
quite a number of business opportunities
for Austrian green-tech-companies, according to
Commercial Counsellor Hager.
Already the dozens of Austrian companies active
in Malta have experienced an impressive increase in
MALTA
Official Name:
Republic of Malta
Capital: Valletta
Area: 316 sqkm 2 (207th largest
country in the world)
Population: 445,500
(2014 estimate)
Official languages: Maltese,
English, Maltese Sign
Language
Religion: Roman Catholic
Currency: Euro (EUR)
GDP: 10,5 billion $ (nominal,
estimate 2016)
GDP per capita: $ 24,297
million (nominal, estimate
2016)
Government: Unitary
parliamentary republic
• President:
Marie Louise Coleiro Preca
• Prime Minister:
Joseph Muscat
History:
around 5200 BC:
First settlements
around 3600 BC:
Temple period
8th century BC: Colonisation
by Phoenicians and Carthage
218 BC: Roman rule after 2nd
Punic War,
870: Arab period
1194-1530: Rule of
Kingdom of Sicily
1530-1798: Hospitaller rule
1800-1964: Rule of British
Empire
1964: Independence
since 2004: EU membership
Grand harbour of Valletta,
Europe‘s Capital of Culture
in 2018.
The delicious food, the beautiful sea and
paradise-like underwater diving attractions
as well as numerous possibilities for
relaxation have attracted a record mumber
of nearly 2 million visitors to Malta in 2016.
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Cercle Diplomatique 1/2017
Cercle Diplomatique 1/2017
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