Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1487299
14 OPINION maltatoday | SUNDAY • 4 DECEMBER 2022 Paying more, because we are an island: the case for change on EU transport rules THERE is a particular carica- ture of the EU which has had an incredibly long lifespan con- sidering it doesn't stand to close scrutiny. It's that France, or Ger- many, or France and Germany – depending on the bogeyman du jour – run the show, using EU institutions to bend the will of smaller states. EU laws, we are told, are tailored to the in- terests of these big players and then rammed down the throats of minnows like Malta. As I write, France is readying itself to have to purchase some €500 million worth of renewa- ble electricity after failing its EU renewables target while Germa- ny's indiscriminate subsidising of its national economy is being closely examined as it risks dest- abilising the internal market. There are many other instances I could mention. Truth of the fact is that France and Germa- ny together hold sway in the EU only in so far as they manage to build a relevant gravitas of alli- ances over time in a smart way, explaining, being present, con- vincing. That trade is the same for all Member States, includ- ing Malta. Being small is just a condition that requires us to do more, and be more united in our resolve. Container transport to and from Malta No EU member state, large or small, can sit back and hope that things turn out well. No one can speak for Malta better than the Maltese just as no one is more familiar with Malta than the Maltese. The imperative condi- tion is that our representatives at the European Parliament and our Ministers in the Council of the EU come to the negotiation table prepared and equipped with the views from the territory to amplify their arguments and hence build alliances to gain po- litical mass. I have seen it first hand in my duties working at the EU Coun- cil and the European Parliament: EU member states around the table are normally inclined to support particular needs when these are well explained and sus- tained with solid arguments. Af- ter all, just like us, all want their particular needs treated with the same sense of understanding and sympathy. Yes, it is a scratch my back and I scratch yours. Values and ideologies remain of a fundamental importance as a background, but in a Union of 26 territories with dramatically different conditions and needs, ideology can come in different shapes and forms according to theme and context. Unfortunately, this is not what happened in the case of the new EU laws on truck transport. As we may all imagine, Malta being a small island with few natural resources, we import virtual- ly all our goods from overseas, with a good chunk of these com- ing over through road haulage at least for part of the voyage. In 2017 an EU proposal was ta- bled on working conditions in transport of containers by truck. The proposal essentially forced transport companies to give drivers a couple of days of paid rest after a number of consec- utive weeks on the road. This, by itself, is laudable: we all have a right to rest and, in this case, overwork is a sure recipe for road accidents. However, the EU proposal went as step further than that. The EU mobility package which entered into force in February this year requires not only the driver but also the trucks to return to the place where the employer or the driver are es- tablished. That means a 40 hour trip for the Maltese driver the EU law was supposed to protect. That means that truck compa- nies established in Malta, servic- ing the local economy, have to increase their fleet by one truck in six to service the same hours in the continent. €360 extra cost – per container Needless to say, this places Malta at a disadvantage on ac- count of its geography, stand- ing at the edge of the EU's sin- gle market from which it is also separated by stretches of sea. In Brussels last week, I met with the International Road Union (IRU), a transport federation of more than 70 associations from all around the world. The IRU have closely examined the impact of this Directive which came into effect last February and, by their estimate, Malta is now paying €360 more per con- tainer than other mainland EU countries. That is the price of one EU law which we failed to adapt to our needs. There are multiple other cases of a similar nature, all piling up to eat out our competitiveness as an island economy. Had the matter been nipped in the bud five years ago when the Directive was still under negoti- ations in Brussels, a better com- promise for Malta would surely have been found. However, the Government of the day seems to have been distracted with other matters. We cannot risk these failures anymore. Malta is an is- land with very particular needs. If those around the negotiating No EU member state, large or small, can sit back and hope that things turn out well. No one can speak for Malta better than the Maltese just as no one is more familiar with Malta than the Maltese Peter Agius