Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/416739
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2014 28 Letters Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. Malta's obligation as a member of the European Union is to abide by Directives aimed at harmonising all member states forming part of a united Europe. Undoubtedly Direc- tives are not tailor made to suit every country's needs or specific circum- stances and subsequently derogations are applied and granted whenever certain criteria are met. Derogations are a partial revoca- tion of a law, as opposed to abroga- tion or the total abolition of a law. In terms of European Union legislation, a derogation can imply a delay by member states when implement- ing EU Regulations into their legal system or their opting not to enforce a specific provision in a treaty due to given circumstances. Such "specific circumstances", in the case of spring hunting, were clearly defined by the European Court of Justice ruling as being the reason for there being no "satisfactory solution" to hunt turtle dove and quail during autumn. The cardinal point permitting deroga- tion from the Birds Directive during spring was undoubtedly met and the framework legislation permit- ting such practice whenever autumn hunted numbers are unsatisfactory shares the European Commission's approval. In theory, all EU laws should be binding on all member states. But states can sometimes negotiate to opt-out of a particular piece of leg- islation or derogate. The Nationalist Party confirmed this fact in two let- ters assuring all hunters and trappers dated March and April 2003 signed by its leader and Prime Minister at the time. Also the current PN leader Busuttil during his tenure as the head of the Malta EU Information Centre MIC informed the Maltese public that following pre accession negotia- tions on the Environment, "Malta will apply a derogation whereby Mal- tese hunters can continue hunting quail and turtledoves in spring" and most importantly is his confirm- ing that, "the possibility to derogate forms part of EU law". The Opposition leader Simon Busuttil PN now argues that the "referendum would not go against the provisions of Malta's EU Acces- sion Treaty". How after "sticking out his neck for hunters" and countless references and assurances regard- ing a negotiated position on spring hunting, he himself was involved in, Busuttil arrives at this conclusion solicits an explanation since the Na- tionalist Party has always maintained the exact opposite. So much so, apart from derogation for spring hunting being a specific provision in a treaty forming part of EU and subsequently Maltese law , the words of Eddie Fenech Adami in one of the referred letters unques- tionably confirm the Nationalist Party's agreement on spring hunting as being an integral part of the provisions of Malta's Accession Treaty :"Dak li il-gvern Nazzjonalista ftiehem ma' l-Unjoni Ewropea hu miktub iswed fuq l-abjad fit-Trattat ta' Shubija Dan jassigura li l-kacca- turi u nassaba bhalhek se jkomplu jippratikaw id-delizzju taghhom fis-shih." ('What the Nationalist Party agreed with the European Union is written in black and white in the Ac- cession Treaty. This assures hunters and trappers like yourself that they will remain practicing their pastime in its entirety.') Perhaps Busuttil might wish to explain this ambiguity if he cherishes his and the PN's credibility. Pierre Zammit Kercem, Gozo The social partners have failed to reach an agreement on the social pact, despite their aim to form consensus between the social partners and government prior to the budget date. The failure to reach an agreement is a blow to the country's prospects of achieving an economic and social revival. This failure will have lasting and dire consequences on the living standards in our country. It will hinder our competitive nature and make it that much harder to place our finances on an even keel. The financial situation is known to all. Our annual deficit has become an entrenched feature of the economy, govern- ment spending has risen yearly, debt servicing costs are alarm- ing, the public sector drains resources that could be more profitably used in the private sector and a good part of our generous welfare system is financed by borrowed money. In economic terms, the country's finances need to be addressed as a topmost priority. There is general consensus on this urgent need. Given this background, and especially with the GWU's count-me-out attitude, government is facing a dilemma. Government is at the crossroads and whatever road it chooses to take will be painful. The choice facing Dr Gonzi following the failure to conceive a social pact is a difficult one. On the one hand he could choose to take the economic route of taking the bull by the horns and captaining an austere economic and fiscal policy - with the clear objective of getting the finances in order. On the other, he could choose to act politically by placing his party interests first by avoiding any decisions with painful consequences for the electorate. Whatever the route taken, the decisions will undoubtedly have financial and electoral consequences. This situation is directly attributable to bad economic management. In short, the chickens have come home to roost. Much of the situation is directly attributable to the National- ist government, which for years festered a 'Money? No prob- lem' culture as it chose to forge ahead with a spendthrift fiscal policy. The party is over and it is now time to act. The choice falls clearly on the shoulders of Lawrence Gonzi. This is his moment of economic truth. He must decide whether to see the hard decisions through, and lump the electoral consequences which may follow, or else just sit back, hurt no one, and simply hope the financial hur- ricane will blow over. This latter course of action, however, is now impossible, because the dynamics and the logistics of public finances are different today: What we decide to do is no longer exclusively our business, but it is also of major concern to the bureaucrats in Brussels with our new status as European Union members. Brussels now has the clout and the right to insist on which economic path we are to follow and to ensure we take all the necessary corrective measures. It is also true that we live in a globally competitive world, where our island economy insula- tion has been shed and replaced by a new situation, like any other country, in which we are affected by decisions taken on a global level. This newspaper believes Lawrence Gonzi must shoulder the responsibility of taking all the necessary decisions to place our finances on an even keel. This he must do with or without the support of the social partners and even in a situation in which one of the partners decides not to play ball. If the partners refuse to surrender their entrenched positions in the name of the national common interest, then it falls upon govern- ment to decide upon and drive its economic policy through. Governments are elected to govern. The people are expecting hard decisions to be taken and they expect painful decisions to be implemented. They insist, however, that these measures are applied fairly and that the social safety net is preserved intact. Persons with the least means must carry the least burden. Painful measures must be implemented with extreme sensitiv- ity and social awareness. The Dar Malta and the Opera House sagas have damaged government's sought after reputation of prudent spending. Lawrence Gonzi must devote less attention to the finite details and improve his appreciation of the bigger picture. He must understand that before asking people to make sacrifices, he must first win the hearts and minds of the electorate. He must show people where he intends taking them. Leadership is all about carrying people with you. This is an emotional trip and he is currently falling short of exciting an electorate that is growing more pessimistic by the day and which losing faith in the future. The future is all about making this country more European, this is at once the dream and the issue facing the Prime Minis- ter. Achieving this also includes putting our finances in order. Lawrence Gonzi needs the support of all the social partners to achieve this goal. But, with or without their support, Dr Gonzi must bite the financial bullet. At the crossroads Editorial • November 21 2004 A made-up version of Simon Busuttil? So according to media reports, Simon Busuttil has been hav- ing private lectures by a foreign consultant on how to improve the delivery of his speeches, body language and all that is needed to impress his audience much more than he has been able to do up to now. So instead of seeing the real Simon Busuttil, we may be looking at a "made-up" version of the Op- position leader. In my view, what Simon Busuttil needs is someone to teach him how to avoid trying to create mountains out of mole hills, or storms in a tea cup. The scaremongering possibility of "50 atom-bombs" going off in Marsax- lokk Harbour just because there would be an LNG tanker moored there to supply gas to the new gas power station which is being built there, is perhaps the most glaring example of what I mean. Eddy Privitera Mosta An open letter to the Siggiewi Local Council and MEPA Way back some years ago, I wrote about the barbaric destruction of backyard gardens and orange orchards, much greater in size, which used to enrich the core of the beautiful village of Siggiewi. These pockets of unbuilt spaces used to provide the villagers with the much-needed fresh air and the high quality of oxygen that the people who live there breathe. Notwithstanding the effort to raise awareness, nothing was done to prevent the insensitive construction that was allowed to cover these air spaces. The result is that only a few of such spaces remain. My renewed appeal is that the authorities should reject outright any further plans to build over spaces that our predecessors, much wiser than us, earmarked for back gardens. A visit to a new construction site in Gate Avenue in Zebbug is a clear example. What I am saying is that new development should remain sensitive to what our forefathers had done before us; additionally, that we should leave our children large open spaces to provide them with the clean air that they will need to be able to live healthily. If there is a will, it should not be so difficult. Nicola Zammit Siggiewi Does the left hand know what the right is doing?