Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1118959
27 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 MAY 2019 OPINION people's grandparents. I am stepping into that zone when things like 'cancer' become possibilities you contemplate may actually one day happen to yourself. And which start happening to real people, in your wider circle of family and friends, almost every- where you look… So I must say, I am hugely relieved to find that I just no longer have to worry about it at all. All I have to do is go down to the polling station next Saturday, cast my vote for all the Nationalist MEP candidates on the ballot sheet… and hey presto! 'To- gether, we will beat cancer'. A cancer-free future is guaran- teed… Mind you, it does raise a few teenie-weenie questions. Like… how long has the PN been sitting on this miracle cancer-cure it seems to have just suddenly discovered? Like I said earlier: I'm at an age when friends and ac- quaintances do get diagnosed with cancer from time to time. I'm happy to report that some of these cancer victims have indeed fought, and won, their battles with this disease. (For it is true that cancer – some forms, anyway – can be beaten). But I also know other peo- ple who fought their battles, and lost. In fact, it would be no exaggeration to state that a fair percentage of all the people I have ever known, and who are now dead, died specifically of that very dis- ease, in one form or another. Would any of them still be around today, I wonder, if the PN made that elec- toral promise, say, 10 years ago (i.e., before an election it actually had a chance of winning) instead of today? Might they have been 'saved' by a Nationalist victory at the polls, where months and years of chemotherapy had been to no avail? And if so… how, exactly? What medi- cal breakthrough has the PN been able to achieve, in the field of cancer research, that has so far eluded the best and most eminent cancer special- ists for well over 100 years? Actually, this latter question has already been asked (be- cause, unsurprisingly, cancer patients were kind of curious to understand this 'new hope' they were suddenly given, on the eve of an election)… and apparently, the idea is to "to find a solution, even from Europe"… in the form of "the European People's Party's (EPP) lead candidate for European Commission presi- dent Manfred Weber [pro- posing] a master plan which would see funding for cancer research doubled across the EU in order to better fight the disease…." Erm… hang on a second there. For starters, this is be- ginning to sound suspiciously like Baldric from 'Black Ad- der': it's not so much that the PN has 'discovered a cure for cancer'; but that… 'they have a cunning plan'. (Or, bet- ter still… they would have a cunning plan, if only enough people voted for them in a European election…) Even then, however – i.e., even if the PN does pull off an even bigger miracle than merely 'curing cancer', by actually winning a majority of seats in this election – this 'cunning plan' would still be contingent on Manfred Weber going on to become European Commission President (a 50-50 chance, at best), and then convincing the EU to double its cancer research budget… not to mention the ability of those researchers to actually find a flipping cure for cancer at all: no matter how much money the EU throws at them for that purpose. And yes, great, they'd have twice as much money to do it with. But 'discovering cures for killer diseases' is not like winning an election, you know. It doesn't depend exclusively on how generous you are with other people's money. The most Manfred Weber's 'master plan' can possibly hope to achieve is to facilitate cancer research in the only way a non-specialist can. By donating money to the cause. And hey, I'm not saying it's a bad idea, either. I can certainly think of far worse things the EU can spend its tax-payers' money on (start- ing with the entire European Parliament itself, lock stock and two smokin' barrels). But if that is the full extent of the Nationalist Party's 'an- ti-cancer' initiative… a vague and nebulous proposal to increase EU cancer-research spending, with not even the remotest guarantee that the fight against cancer will be won… well, it's a far cry from 'beating cancer', don't you think? All things considered… I'm beginning to miss the good old days. I think I prefer the more archaic ways of sim- ply buying elections. The times when political parties made promises we all knew they were actually capable of keeping. Like jobs for the boys, for instance; or special exemptions from taxes. Or fridge-freezers…. Hey, that'll do nicely, in fact. Only it's a dishwasher I need this time. Preferably with a five-year warranty. You can manage that, can't you? So tell you what: save all the 'cure for cancer' promises for when you really do make that elusive medical research breakthrough… and for the time being, just get me a dishwasher. Something I can see, feel, and touch with my own two hands… and which actually has a practical use for a change. Then, and only then… yeah, sure, what the hell? I'll vote for you guys no problem… It would be no exaggeration to state that a fair percentage of all the people I have ever known, and who are now dead, died specif ically of cancer, in one form or another. Would any of them still be around today, I wonder, if the PN made that electoral promise, say, 10 years ago (i.e., before an election it actually had a chance of winning) instead of today? 2 nd CALL FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS The Funds and Programmes Division (FPD) within the Parliamentary Secretariat for European Funds and Social Dialogue, Ministry for European Affairs and Equality, would like to inform that the second (2 nd ) call for strategic project proposals under the ENI CBC Med 2014-2020 Programme is now open. The current call is open for the following programme's priority axes: • Support innovative start-up and recently established enterprises; • Strengthen and support euro-Mediterranean networks, clusters, consortia and value chains in traditional sectors and non-traditional sectors; • Support technological transfer and commercialisation of research results; • Provide young people, especially those belonging to the NEETS, and women, with marketable skills; • Water management - Support sustainable initiatives targeting innovative and technological solutions to increase water efficiency; • Waste treatment and recycling - Reduce municipal waste generation, promote source-separated collection and its optimal exploitation; • Renewable energy and energy efficiency - Support cost-effective and innovative energy rehabilitations relevant to building types and climatic zones, with a focus on public buildings. Proposals must be submitted electronically on https://synergie-cte.asp-public.fr/ by 1300hrs, 3 rd July 2019. Further information about this call may be accessed through the Programme's website: http://www.enicbcmed.eu/calls-for-proposals/call-strategic-projects. An information session shall be held on 23rd May 2019 at The Palace Hotel, Sliema. Details can be found on the following link: http://www.enicbcmed.eu/save-dates-information-events-call-strategic-projects. FPD may be contacted on 22001142 or territorialcoop.fpd@gov.mt. ENI CBC Med Programme 2014 – 2020 Programme part-financed by the European Union Co-financing rate: 90% EU Funds; 10% Project Financing