Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/767466
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 28 DECEMBER 2016 News 8 Thursday TVM 20:50 Free bus scheme for 18 year olds to kick in on Sunday PEOPLE born in 1999 will be able to travel by bus for free for a year starting from the date they turn 18, in a scheme that will kick in on New Year's Day. Through the scheme, Transport Malta will refund Tallinja credit consumed during the previous month, each month for a year. Therefore if, for example, a youth consumes €20 in Tallinja credit in February, in the beginning of March, Transport Malta will re- instate €20 on his or her Tallinja Card. Every individual can benefit up to a maximum of €312 in credit refunds during the year. Trans- port Malta will refund credit for all routes offered by Malta Public Transport, be they day trips, night trips or special routes. The scheme will automatically kick in for Tallinja Card holders upon their 18th birthday, while non-Tallinja Card holders will need to apply for the card to benefit. The free public transport scheme was announced in the 2017 Budget as an incentive for youths to con- tinue using buses and not to rush into obtaining their driving licens- es. Abela: EU countries 'coming to terms with need to reform Dublin' CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 But closing off borders is not as straightforward as it seems, Carmelo Abela points out, pointing out that the EU bor- der is a shared one, and that such policies affect all member states. This is one of the substantial drawbacks of the European Union. Its member states can be quick to punish errant countries whose deficits are higher than 3% of their GDP. But when it comes to creating a common asylum system and lay- ing down one standard for the re- ception and relocation of refugees or migrants without documenta- tion, at times 28 different yard- sticks, and expectations, apply. Abela says that even northern member states, such as Sweden – which attracts large waves of mi- gration attracted by its social se- curity benefits – are now coming to terms with the need to reform Dublin. Forcing border countries to process and host asylum seekers does not nothing to prevent sec- ondary movement, where migrants tend to advance further north as they seek a promised land for eco- nomic security and protection from persecution. That is why another seven legisla- tive proposals are part of an entire package of immigration reform: they comprise resettlement rules from non-EU countries, the reform of the European Asylum Support Office, changing fingerprinting rules – the so called Eurodac sys- tem, as well as laying down com- mon rules on procedures, quali- fication for protection, reception conditions, and finally a 'blue card' for migrants on similar lines as the United States' green card. Abela's goal for the next six months will be to hammer out an understanding on the Dublin re- form. It is easier said than done: much of the background work is done by technical officers in Malta and in Brussels, and then they have to negotiate with a delegation from the European Parliament, before going back to the Council to fur- ther come out with a common text. "The presidency's role is to bring together common positions, but also generate new ideas and foster better understanding through bi- lateral meetings," Abela says. But the Maltese minister also faces another challenge, this time coming from a surge of the hard and far right that is set to influence mainstream politicians seeking to outbid parties with harrowing anti- immigrant sentiment. France and Germany have elections in 2017: the former will certainly see the Front National's Marine Le Pen in the final run-off, while in the latter Angela Merkel is set to pay the con- sequences of her open-door policy as far-right groupings like AfD are set to influence the political agenda. "There is a danger with the far- right, and it is a matter of concern for the EU. A lot of what happens will depend on the attitudes of poli- ticians, and general elections do have an effect on what 'the national interest' is at the moment. Domes- tic concerns do play an important role, as well as public opinion, on the positions taken by ministers," Abela admits. That makes the business of seek- ing cooperation on a common text for the Dublin regulation's reform even harder. The climate inside the EU is itself gloomy. Although all EU member states pledged to take in migrants from Greece and Italy under the solidarity mechanism over a two- year period, Abela is the first to admit to the lack of enthusiasm among certain member states. In 2015, home affairs ministers agreed to relocate 160,000 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece, to assist the two countries in deal- ing with the pressures of the refu- gee crisis. Malta has so far taken 70 from its pledge of 131. Austria, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have taken little or none. France and the Netherlands offered to take fewer people than the number they had agreed to under the relocation scheme. Indeed the V4 states are fighting the European Commission's relo- cation mechanism in the European Court of Justice, after they were outvoted in the EU council in Sep- tember 2015 on the second reloca- tion scheme. Rising anti-refugee sentiment will undermine the com- mitment of countries to take this flexible arrangement further. "In some cases it is technical and practical problems: the difficulties of trying to identify the migrants, even finding them to simply relo- cate them, for one, but also because member states know they cannot prevent their secondary movement once they are relocated. So there has been a lack of enthusiasm," Ab- ela says. In June, Abela will be tasked to take full stock of the ad hoc Soli- darity Mechanism. For a bloc of 28 member states that is happy to punish errant countries with defi- cits higher than 3% of their GDP, forcing them to live by their pledges to take in Syrian refugees should be a simple task. But the political sensitivity on the issue of migration across Europe – Abela himself told an Italian parliamentary commit- tee this year that there was little appetite for solidarity – means the EU's refugee policy will muddling around for some form of agreement on a watered-down proposal. From left to right: Carmelo Abela with Dimitrios Avramopoulos, European Commissioner for home affairs