Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1439469
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 DECEMBER 2021 OPINION taking the recent surge so very much more seriously, that they are introducing… erm… 'more drastic measures', including the 'mandatory wearing of masks'… Now: I could, of course, waste what little remains of the year by pointing out the glaring political double-standards, right there… in fact, it even crossed my mind to dub 2021 the 'Year of U-turns' (but then again: couldn't the same be said for every… single… oth- er… year?) But I won't bother for another reason: which has a lot to do with that lengthy spell in which nobody seemed all that very anxious about COVID-19 at all. When you stop and think about it, for a moment: why do so many people suddenly oppose mask-wearing, today… when, just eight or months ago, many of the same people were stamping their feet, and demanding the same – nay, even more stringent imposi- tions (including, believe it or not, another lockdown)? What has actually changed, be- tween now and last March, to make so many people suddenly look at the same measure as … 'disproportionate'? Well, the last word gives us all a very indicative hint. 'Dispropor- tionate' to what, exactly? In this context, it can only mean to one thing: the threat posed the virus itself. And from that perspective: if people now object to face-masks, it is only because the 'protection' these things supposedly afford – whatever that may actually trans- late into, in practice – is simply no longer worth all the nuisance and bother of actually having to wear one. Only one thing could possibly have endowed us with such an extraordinary (and possibly mis- placed) 'booster' of confidence, in such a short time; and surely, it must be the same thing that also caused our rate of COVID hospi- talization – not to mention COV- ID deaths - to remain far more stable today, than they were eight or nine months ago; with the re- sult that, while more people seem to be contracting the virus today; a far smaller percentage of them ends up needing emergency treat- ment… Well, do I even need to go on? That is EXACTLY what the much-maligned Covid-19 vaccine had all along set out to achieve. Not to 'win the war on Covid' (or anything so hopelessly naïve as that)… but just to make it a little easier to fight the individual bat- tles, on a day-by-day basis. Honestly, you couldn't even ask for a more successful outcome, really… especially when you also consider what today's hospital sta- tistics might have been like, had the roll-out not been so extensive (or – worse still – had there not been any vaccine at all…) Josianne Cutajar Josianne Cutajar is a Labour MEP (S&D) A socially conscious energy transition OVER the past weeks, energy prices have been making considerable news all over Europe. While prices have remained con- stant in Malta, thanks to the Labour ad- ministration and its social conscience, the same cannot be said for other parts of Eu- rope. Energy prices have in fact skyrocketed over the past months. As of October 2021, gas prices have marked a 400% increase over April 2021. Power prices on the oth- er hand have increased by 200% given that the prices of gas have went up. This is con- cerning because as winter is approaching, people from all over Europe, especially the North, will have to turn to power to keep themselves warm. The situation is worrisome. According to estimates, about 1.7 million people die globally every year as a result of extreme cold conditions. This in itself is very alarming, and it is another reason why en- ergy security in Europe is something that must be secured, and imminently so. During a meeting that I had last week with the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) in Slovenia, I made sure to voice concerns in this regard in discussions we had about the rising energy prices. After all, we must ensure that the effects of high prices are not borne by the most vulnerable consum- ers. Whilst monitoring the current situa- tion, we must continue working towards ensuring a steady supply of energy, whilst reducing our dependability on fossil fuels and focusing on the importance of energy efficiency. Renewables can help us achieve this cru- cial goal. We need to scale up the com- bination power of solar and wind energy along with a stronger uptake of batteries. Surely, the transition towards cleaner en- ergy will come at a cost. However, we must make sure that the process of making our economy and energy sector cleaner will be socially just and will not hamper the ter- ritorial cohesion of the Union. The needs and the specificities of the most peripher- al regions, including our islands, must be taken into account. We need to pay heed to the most vulner- able citizens and we must keep the goal of addressing energy poverty in mind. After all, the principle of solidarity is one that the European Union was founded up- on. When push comes to shove, the Union and any member state government will not be judged by how it treats its richest, but by how it acts in order to leave no one behind. As a Socialist Member of the European Parliament coming from the periphery, I will continue advocating a socially con- scious energy transition. The EU and any member state government will not be judged by how it treats its richest, but by how it acts in order to leave no one behind www.josiannecutajar.com www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu