Wara l-waqfa tas-sajf, l-aġenda tal-Unjoni Ewropea se tkun mimlija. Għal ħafna, il-kwistjoni tal-Brexit tibqa’ fuq quddiem nett. Imma dwar materji oħra, id-deċiżjonijiet qed isiru urġenti.
L-aħħar żviluppi fil-gwerra ċivili tas-Sirja u l-problemi interni fit-Turkija li donnhom qed isiru aktar komplikati, se jħarrxu d-dilemmi li l-immigrazzjoni kkważat fl-Unjoni Ewropea tul l-aħħar sentejn. Għad ma nstabitx politika soda, jew talanqas metodu, kif din se tiġi ffaċċjata fiż-żmien li ġej. Kulħadd anke jekk ma jgħidx hekk, qed jara kif jista’ jimmunta l-ilqugħ, ukoll minħabba l-biża’ li l-ftehim mat-Turkija mhux se jżomm.
Dwar it-terroriżmu, jintqal li sar xi progress imma fil-verità l-Ewropa għadha vulnerabbli ħafna għal aktar attakki.
Sadattant baqgħu jperpru l-mistoqisjijiet dwar il-futur taż-żona ewro, il-ħtieġa li l-ekonomiji jirrankaw aktar għall-ħolqien ta’ aktar impjiegi, il-kwistjoni tal-Ukrajna u l-ftehim dwar kummerċ u investiment mal-Istati Uniti.
Komplikazzjoni oħra ġejja mis-sitwazzjoni politika prekarja ta’ numru ta’ gvernijiet fl-istati membri, waqt li għadu ma battiex id-dwejjaq li beda jinħass fil-bidu tas-sajf, bil-mod kif il-Kummissjoni Ewropea mhijiex qed tkun effettiva daqskemm mixtieq.
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Regulatorji
Mal-milja tas-snin, l-amministrazzjoni pubblika tgħabbiet b’korporazzjonijiet, aġenziji, kumpaniji, kummissjonijiet u korpi oħra, uħud b’poteri eżekuttivi, oħrajn regulatorji, terġa’ oħrajn bil-kompitu li jissorveljaw xi jkun għaddej mill-perspettiva tal-interess publiku jew taċ-ċittadin individwali. F’hekk segwejna l-linja tal-pajjiżi tal-Punent, in parti biex inaqqsu kemm jistgħu l-interventi tal-gvern fl-ekonomija, in parti biex il-ħidma publika ssir aktar trasparenti taħt kondizzjonijiet ta’ kontabbilità aktar stretta.
Huma bidliet li jżidu l-ispiża tat-tmexxija tal-pajjiż. Dan ikun aċċettabbli jekk iwassal għal titjib konkret fl-istess tmexxija.
Onestament, niddubita kemm qed jiġri hekk f’Malta. Ħafna mill-aġenziji regolatorji pereżempju jew dejjem issibhom jaqgħu lura fuq id-deċiżjonijiet li suppost qed jissorveljaw. Jew issib li r-riżorsi li għandhom biex imexxu d-dmirijiet tagħhom huma inadekwati għall-aħħar.
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Valuri reliġjużi
Kien argument li ntuża ftit ilu dwar waħda minn dawn il-kontroversji dejjem għaddejja dwar kontraċezzjoni, abort, ewtanasja u l-bqija.
Qabel int u jien nistgħu niddiskutu x’għandu jsir, qal xi ħadd, trid l-ewwel tgħidli jekk intix nisrani jew le.
Tajba din! Kieku d-diskussjoni kienet dwar x’għandu jgħodd għall-insara, nifhimha. Imma d-diskussjoni kienet dwar x’għandu jgħodd għas-soċjetà kollha kemm hi – li hi lajka u tinkludi ċittadini bi twemmin reliġjuż differenti, inkluż in-nuqqas tiegħu.
Mela l-bażi tal-valuri li fuqhom jittieħdu d-deċiżjonijiet trid tkun lajka. Dwar din id-deċiżjoni, hu immaterjali t-twemmin ta’ min qiegħed jiddiskutiha. Li tippretendi mod ieħor, hu eżempju ieħor tal-oskurantiżmu li għadu qawwi fis-soċjetà Maltija.

English Version – Summer’s over

At the end of the summer break, European Union is facing a crowded agenda. For many, the predominant issue is Brexit. But in other areas too, decisions are urgently needed.

The latest developments in the Syrian civil war coupled to Turkey’s internal problems which have become more complex, will deepen the dilemmas that immigration has generated during the past two years in the EU. A coherent policy, or at least a method by which immigration can be dealt with coherently in coming months, still needs to be established. Nobody admits it, yet all countries involved are reviewing how to set up protective barriers, not least because there is fear that the agreement with Turkey will not hold.

Regarding terrorism the claims are that progress is being made. But the truth is that Europe remains vulnerable to further terrorist attacks.

Meanwhile questions that remain pending concern the future of the eurozone, the need for greater economic growth to generate more employment, the Ukraine situation, and the agreement with the US on trade and investment, TTIP.

Further complications follow from the precarious political situation that a number of the governments of member states find themselves in, while the discontent that started becoming evident with the approach of summer at the ineffectiveness of the European Commission, has still not abated.

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Regulatory

Over the years, public administration has been loaded with corporations, agencies, companies, commissions and other bodies, some of which were executive in nature, others regulatory, while the remit of yet others was to monitor what was going on from the perspective of the public interest or that of individual citizens.

In this we followed the model of Western countries, in part to reduce as much as possible governments’ role in the economy, but also to ensure that public initiatives were being carried out under conditions of transparency and more stringent accountability.

Inevitably, these changes increased the overhead costs of the country’s administration.That would be acceptable if it led to a concrete improvement in such administration.

Honestly, I doubt whether this applies to Malta. Many of the regulatory agencies for instance, are always lagging behind the decisions they are supposed to monitor. Or it turns out that the resources they are supplied with to get on with their job are grossly inadequate.

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Religious values

The argument was used recently in one of these ongoing controversies about contraception, abortion, euthanasia and the rest.

Before you and I can discuss what needs to be done, the claim on one side was, you need to tell me whether you are a Christian or not.

How interesting! If the discussion was about what was/is valid for Christians, one could understand that. But it related to what would fit society overall – a secular society that is, which includes citizens having different religious beliefs, including no belief at all.

So, the basis on which decisions have to be taken must be secular in scope. In discussing about them, the religious beliefs of participants are immaterial. To pretend otherwise, is another instance of the obscurantism that still prevails in Maltese society.

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