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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 SEPTEMBER 2023 A case for EU strategic autonomy Editorial BUYING an electric vehicle is still a very costly ven- ture. Even with the generous government scheme that covers part of the cost for consumers, an electric car could still be out of reach for most individuals. With EU countries, including Malta, setting 2035 as the target date for a ban on sales of combustion engine cars, more effort is required to bring down the price of electric vehicles. Unfortunately, European car makers are still heav- ily invested in the petrol engine and have been lag- gards in the electric car market. The vacuum is being filled by Chinese-made electric cars that are cheaper and of good quality. This unfolding scenario has prompted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to an- nounce in her state of the union speech the start of an investigation into Chinese electric car subsidies. The argument behind this investigation is that the Chinese government's subsidies enable the indige- nous electric automotive industry to sell cars at un- dercut prices globally. The European Commission's probe is intended to protect the European car industry from unfair over- seas competition but it also risks a savage trade war with China. Although Germany's car industry stands to benefit if cheaper Chinese models are kept at bay, a trade war will also boomerang against them since China is also an important market for them. The solution has to be more home-grown and one that not only protects manufacturers but ensures consumers get better deals on electric cars. The EU must ease its rigidity and allow State subsidies to finance innovation and production of electric cars in Europe. In this way, jobs on the continent will be pro- tected and more importantly, the transition towards electrification in the transport sector will be faster. This approach needs to be adopted across several sectors that are of strategic importance to Europe's green transition and its economic and social wellbe- ing. This may be anathema to the EU's underlying be- lief in the free market and trade across borders. But there is a global geopolitical context that cannot be ignored. At a time when even Europe's ally, the US, is look- ing after itself by subsidising high tech manufacturing and scientific research amid fears that it is losing its technological edge to China, the EU cannot stand by idly. The massive US aid package signed by American President Joe Biden last year includes among others tax breaks for computer chip manufacturing plants. The underlying rationale behind America's subsidy drive is to strengthen the country's autonomy in stra- tegic economic sectors. The EU has no option but to follow suit and the notion of strategic autonomy championed by France's Emanuel Macron must no longer remain a buzzword. The EU needs to have economic and infrastructural security to ensure the European lifestyle continues with peace of mind and fewer disruptions. The EU First mantra should translate into an am- bitious low-tax, high-subsidy model to encourage private investment in strategic areas. It is pretty much the Malta model adopted as a means of survival by subsequent administrations since the 1960s, where the State used its resources to encourage private investment that in turn created jobs and contributed to economic growth. Businesses in strategic sectors across the EU should benefit from low taxes and investment incentives, coupled with subsidies on infrastructural works, re- search and development and training. The EU must be able to encourage expansion and bring home: high tech manufacturing, chip makers, electric car production, industrial scale battery pro- duction, scientific research with particular focus on medicinals, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and food production. State aid rules in these sectors must be re-evalu- ated. Something similar has already been adopted in the chip making sector with STMicroelectronics being one of the beneficiaries. A similar strategy must now be adopted in the electric car industry and other sectors such as the exploration of minerals required in the production of microchips and batteries to lessen dependence on China and outside sources. Malta should also be able to benefit from such a strategy when it comes to exploit its offshore exclu- sive economic zone by investing in floating wind and solar energy farms. On the energy front, the EU must use its largesse to strike strategic deals with all countries on the North African coast to invest in large solar farms in the de- sert to deliver clean energy across the Mediterranean Sea. These projects must be accompanied by invest- ment in educational and economic development in these countries, thus also providing lasting solutions to the immigration problem. Malta has signed a memorandum of understanding with Libya in this regard but a more solid EU frame- work is required with the more stable countries like Morocco, Algeria and Egypt. The EU is a global powerhouse but a fragmented one at that. It is a large free market with its inter- nal idiosyncrasies. But in a changing international scenario where even friends like the US are looking out for themselves, the EU cannot continue living in Cloud Nine. It's time to step up. It's time to think and act EU First and Maltese politicians have the duty to identify those strategic areas applicable to Malta so the island is not left out of these developments. 16 September 2013 Overcrowded prison conditions 'a recipe for suicide' PROCEDURES to handle emergency situations are in place in Malta's only prison, but cannot always be implemented for lack of staff to cope with a skyrocketing inmate population. Theoretically it goes without saying that, in maintaining a prison system, the State auto- matically assumes responsibility for the health, safety and wellbeing of all persons in its custo- dy. Yet inevitably there is a gulf between theory and practice; and while Malta's only prison can lay claim to having all the necessary safeguards down in its book of rules and regulations, the reality is that these same safeguards cannot always be implemented for logistical reasons... with results that sometimes threaten the lives of inmates. A spotlight was cast on this situation by the recent death of an inmate in Division 6 on 5 September. Julian Genovese, 53, was found dead in an isolation cell under circumstances (later confirmed) that suggested suicide. Details that have since emerged of the circumstances leading to Genovese's death have also raised very serious questions about the standards of prison administration as a whole. It turns out that Genovese died of asphyxi- ation after attempting to hang himself from a nail in the wall of his cell in Division 6, using plastic garbage bags retrieved from dustbin liners within the prison complex itself. The nail from which he hanged himself was affixed at around four feet from the ground - considerably less than his own height - re- sulting in the victim slowly strangling himself to death. His lifeless body was discovered at approximately 2pm, while the last time his cell had been inspected was around three hours earlier, just after 11am. Questions have also been raised about why Genovese was held in Division 6 in the first place - a maximum-security division designed only for violent and dangerous criminals - es- pecially when he had already exhibited suicidal tendencies and had received psychological treatment at Mount Carmel Hospital. ... Quote of the Week "Malta has never been a hotbed of footballing talent, but Teuma might be about to change that. The new Reims recruit is already building a decent highlights reel after a career spent in the lower leagues." British newspaper The Guardian on its decision to include Maltese international footballer Teddy Teuma's transfer to French Ligue 1 side Reims as one of 12 best value transfer deals of the summer MaltaToday 10 years ago