Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1529355
5 gozotoday | FRIDAY • 15 NOVEMBER 2024 OPINION Peter Agius is a Member of the European Parliament for Partit Nazzjonalista Peter Agius Current connectivity options for Gozo are too insufficient and unreliable FROM the feedback in my home visits to Gozo, to the chats I have with Gozitan students commuting to the University of Malta, to the feedback I get from Gozitan workers commuting to Malta daily, all points to one imper- ative for Gozitans to live a bet- ter life in their beloved island: a better connectivity with the mainland. This is however not just a wish of a subset of our citizens. This is an important invest- ment in Malta's own economy. While we strive to expand by importing workers from abroad and tapping into new economic niches, we need to exploit more effectively the huge untapped potential in Gozo and its resources: its skilled workforce and its unique culture and heritage, to begin with. As a political candidate, I made it my clear commitment to focus my energies on work- ing for a better connectivity for Gozo. This was my pub- lished electoral pledge before the election of 8 June 2024. As an elected MEP, with the support of many Gozitans, I acted on my pledge in the first month of my mandate by lay- ing the groundwork to make my pledge a reality. I have used the services avail- able to me as MEP to request a detailed study from the Euro- pean Parliament Research Ser- vice, on Gozitan connectivity and in particular, the funding instruments to finance new ferries for Gozo. The findings of the study are both encouraging and alarm- ing. It is alarming that up to five different paths exist to fund new ferries for improved Gozitan connectivity, yet none has been used. It is encouraging that the Eu- ropean Union can be an im- portant vector to secure that Gozitans and visitors to Gozo can benefit from state of the art ferries fuelled by renewable energy in the near future if we muster enough political will to use the tools at our disposal. It is now high time we unite our efforts toward this goal. The current connectivity op- tions for Gozo are too insuf- ficient and unreliable for us to stay idle. The Fast Ferry from Valletta, while a positive contribution, is not frequent enough and does not allow for car commuting. The existing ferries operat- ed by the Gozo Channel Ferry service from Ċirkewwa were a significant investment for Gozo when they were built in the year 2000. Now these ships are 24 years old. An even older ship, the Nikolaus, recently supple- mented them. It is time to look ahead at the next phase of Gozitan connectivity to ensure the sustainability and quality of the service by Gozo Chan- nel, or any other entity operat- ing the Ċirkewwa Mġarr route. As this study shows, around us in EU Member States there are no less than five projects where the EU has already fund- ed or is funding investment in sea transport with renewable energy. Moreover, a very interesting Horizon Project tailored on the needs of Gozo and Greece was submitted without enough political support to see it to de- ployment. The Green Deal rules adopt- ed in the last European Parlia- ment legislature have imposed on Malta a series of dispropor- tionate obligations, consider- ing our insularity and depend- ence on sea and air transport. These rules affect our econo- my, as sectors like the Freeport face stiffer competition from third-country competitors not subject to the same EU stand- ards. Changing these rules is diffi- cult, but we can carve out bet- ter niches within them. For instance, we could use the new ETS Maritime scheme, which taxes ships coming to Malta, to invest in renewable sea transport for Gozo and potentially for Grand Harbour commuting. The ideas and the funding op- portunities are all there. What we need now is to forge the synergies between the private sector and the decision-mak- ers to chart the way ahead, es- pecially for Gozo. The findings of the study are both encouraging and alarming. It is alarming that up to five different paths exist to fund new ferries for improved Gozitan connectivity, yet none has been used