Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1118959
19 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 MAY 2019 INTERVIEW tion Regulation] in Malta. Peo- ple got to know about in on the news, only three days before it was introduced. This regula- tion had been negotiated by government up to three years prior to coming into force. There was a huge transition period before implementation. In other member states, gov- ernments used that transition period to communicate with citizens about the effect of GD- PR from months beforehand. Then they applied EU funds to have training sessions with all the local businesses. Malta was the only country which did not use the funds to inform busi- nesses about GDPR. I have this from European Commission sources. So basically, we need to make the EU work for us, by modifying legislation in Brus- sels to suit us better... Onto the PN's campaign: Adrian Delia has declared that this election is a 'referendum on abortion'. You were EP representation office head, and should know that the EU has no authority to impose abortion on Malta (and that, in any case, we negotiated a protocol safeguard). How honest in the PN being with this abortion strategy? It is honest and accurate. Let me tell you why: migration. Would you agree that migra- tion is one of the EU's most im- portant competencies? Not really, no… What do you mean, no? Mi- gration is surely one of the EU's main competencies? So why has the EU done so little about migration in the Mediterranean? Why does Malta have to resort to bilateral agreements every time there is a crisis? I'm giving it to you as an ex- ample. I know: I'm challenging your example… My point is that migration was not an EU competence at all, until the Tampere Council in Finland in the 1990s. The environment is another case in point. It is a major EU priority, but it was only declared an EU competence in the 1970s. So while it is true that abortion, right now, is not an EU compe- tence… if the European Social- ists are pushing for it to become an EU competence, then we do have a problem. And with a Maltese prime minister sit- ting on the Council, who was in Madrid, and did not object to the wording of the European Socialist's manifesto… This, too, is part of the issue. The PN expects everyone to object to everything, on the basis of a single, isolated reference to abortion. Why should the PL renounce a PES manifesto, even if it disagrees with that one issue? Are you serious? You would expect a politician to disagree with something, but give it the go-ahead anyway? By that argument, Malta shouldn't have ratified the Istanbul Convention on Domestic Violence. That contains a reference to 'female reproductive rights', too… I don't know the details on that. I can assure you, it does. Meanwhile, does the PN's approval of the EPP manifesto mean it has no reservations whatsoever about it, on anything? We lobbied with the EPP to make changes to the manifesto. We argued in favour of more emphasis on migration, for in- stance. Labour did not lobby with the PES at all; they didn't even manage to change things that were harmful to Malta, like [Timmermans'] tax harmonisa- tion proposal. And if Muscat did not object to the abortion reference in the PES manifes- to, what convinces you that he would not object to abortion becoming an EU competence? I don't see why he needs to, because Malta negotiated a protocol that is supposed to cover that very contingency. Was that protocol a bluff, then? That protocol was a declara- tion of intent, back then. But let's be clear. It is government that represents us on the coun- cil. A government headed by Joseph Muscat… But Maltese governments are elected by popular vote. So, in that case, it would be Malta introducing abortion of its own accord; the EU would have nothing to do with it at all. The issue facing MEPs is whether abortion could be- come an EU competence. I don't think it is dishonest to address that concern. Delia is correct to state that this is an is- sue that will be on the table for Maltese MEPs to discuss… Moving on: this week you took the initiative of publishing your campaign expenditure [26,500euro] to date, despite there being no legal obligation to do so. Did you make that declaration to expose a non- level playing field in campaign expenditure? The amount I quoted is very basic. I can assure you that there are candidates who are spending at least threefold. But the point in publishing those accounts was to emphasise the need for integrity, impartiality and independence in the con- duct of MEPs and MEP candi- dates. If you're elected an MEP, and one of your roles is seeing that European rights are im- plemented – and maybe touch- ing on this or that big business interest – maybe we should be more careful on who is financ- ing whose campaign, why, and to what extent. And the fact that we only publish accounts after the election – and even then, only expenditure starting from April, when… let me put it this way: I started late, in Sep- tember. Eight months ago. Oth- er people started long before. I think it merits discussion. It is something that may affect an MEP's impartiality. But aren't there already laws regulating campaign expenditure? Yes, but the law requires pub- lication of accounts only after an election. And after an elec- tion is… too late [fatta la zorba]. Whoever becomes an MEP, becomes an MEP. You won't get them down from there in a hurry. Another thing I wanted to point out, is that there is a huge mismatch in terms of re- sources available. I have about 40 people helping me; at least 20 of them are 'phantoms'. Ghosts. You will never see them anywhere. Why? Because they work in jobs where 'being seen with a PN candidate' may end their careers. It's that serious. This is the feeling out there. I've heard stories of Labour candidates having three or four people employed practically full-time with them, while tech- nically working in a ministry or government department. So… yes, I think it is a matter that merits discussion. Europe work for us PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES BIANCHI We have to admit that, 15 years down the line… some sectors of society are worse off within the EU. We have to start from there