Alfred Sant jappella għal investiment strateġiku fis-settur tas-saħħa

Fi stqarrija lill-plenarja tal-Parlament Ewropew, Alfred Sant qal li vvota favur il-programm InvestEU għaliex, permezz tal-implimentazzjoni tiegħu, l-ekonomija tal-UE se tkompli tirċievi injezzjoni ta’ investiment pubbliku tant meħtieġ.

Il-programm InvestEU jieħu post il-Fond Ewropew għall-Investimenti Strateġiċi (EFSI), stabbilit fl-2015 biex iżid l-investiment pubbliku u privat fl-Ewropa. Il-programm il-ġdid jiġbor flimkien strumenti finanzjarji li għandhom l-għan li jappoġġjaw investimenti li huma kruċjali għat-tkabbir ekonomiku.

Alfred Sant esprima t-tama li, għall-kuntrarju tal-predeċessur tiegħu, il-programm InvestEU jikseb bilanċ ġeografiku akbar fin-nefqa tal-fondi. Għal dan il-għan, numru ta’ emendi mressqa minn Alfred Sant inżammu fit-test finali tal-ftehim. L-għan tagħhom huwa li jevitaw ripetizzjoni tal-EFSI fejn kemm Malta kif ukoll Ċipru kienu fil-qiegħ tal-lista ta’ benefiċjarji.

Għalkemm m’għadux pakkett ta’ finanzjament tal-UE ewlieni, il-programm InvestEU jibqa’ essenzjali billi għandu joħloq EUR 400 biljun f’investiment favur prijoritajiet ewlenin tal-UE bħat-tranżizzjoni diġitali u l-miri tal-klima.

“Meta nħarsa ‘l quddiem, l-istituzzjonijiet tal-UE għandhom iżommu l-pressjoni fuq l-imsieħba li jimplimentaw il-programm sabiex jevitaw sitwazzjoni fejn l-appoġġ imur għall-proġetti faċli. Anzi, l-enfasi hawnhekk għandha tkun fuq żoni ekonomiċi u reġjuni fejn l-investiment huwa l-aktar meħtieġ u fejn is-settur privat joqogħd lura milli jinvesti ”, qal Alfred Sant.

---

Alfred Sant calls for strategic investments in the health sector

Alfred Sant has urged EU funding programmes to support strategic investments in the area of health, a sector that urgently needs public support after years of dwindling investment and laissez-faire attitude by EU governments

In a statement to the plenary of the European Parliament, Alfred Sant said he voted in favour of the InvestEU Programme because, through its implementation, the EU economy will continue to receive an injection of much needed public investment.

The InvestEU programme succeeds the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), established in 2015 to increase public and private investment in Europe. The new programme brings together financial instruments aiming to support investments that are crucial for economic growth.

Alfred Sant expressed hope that, unlike its predecessor, the InvestEU programme will achieve greater and deeper geographical balance in its disbursement of funding.  To this effect, a number of amendments tabled by Alfred Sant were maintained in the final text of the agreement. Their objective is to avoid a repeat of EFSI where both Malta and Cyprus featured at the bottom of the list of recipients.

Although not any longer the highlight of EU funding packages, the InvestEU programme remains essential in that it should create EUR400 billion of investment towards major EU priorities such as the digital transition and climate targets.

“Looking forward, EU institutions should keep the pressure on implementing partners in order to avoid a situation whereby support goes for the easy projects. Rather, the focus here should be on economic areas and regions where investment is most direly needed and where private actors would hesitate to invest”, stated Alfred Sant.