It-Tlettax-Il Leġiżlatura Pl 2001
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
IT-TLETTAX-IL LEĠIŻLATURA P.L. 2001 Dokument imqiegħed fuq il-Mejda tal-Kamra tad-Deputati fis-Seduta Numru 138 tal-1 ta’ Ottubru 2018 mill-Ispeaker, l-Onor. Anġlu Farrugia. ___________________________ Raymond Scicluna Skrivan tal-Kamra 12th Conference of Presidents of Parliaments of Small European States 19-21 September 2018 Vaduz, Liechtenstein Hon Anglu Farrugia, Speaker Parliamentary Delegation Report to the House of Representatives. Date: 19-21 th September 2018 Venue: Vaduz, Liechtenstein Maltese delegation: Honourable Anglu Farrugia, President of the House of Representatives Programme: At the invitation of the President of Parliament of the Principality of Liechtenstein, Honourable Albert Frick, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Parliament of Malta, Honourable Anglu Farrugia, was invited to participate at the 12th Conference of Presidents of Parliaments of Small European States. Participation of Speaker Anglu Farrugia at the 12th Conference of the Presidents of Parliaments of Small European States in Liechtenstein, held between the 19th and the 21st of September 2018 Between the 19th and the 21st September, I attended the 12th Conference of the Presidents of Parliaments of Small European States. The official opening was held on the 19th of September and we were welcomed by the President of the Landtag, Mr Albert Frick, who is the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Liechtenstein, Vaduz. The following day, at around 8 a.m., there was the opening of the Conference and the first session was entitled "The sovereignty of small states: origins and international recognition. The introductory speech was made by Dr Christian Frommelt, Director of the Liechtenstein Institute, who was then followed by interventions from the Speakers of Andorra, Cyprus, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro and San Marino. In my intervention in this first session I emphasized the fact that from the historical point of view, recognition of the sovereignty of small states has by no means always been taken for granted. In fact, I explained that Malta had gone through a very disturbing historical struggle until it became completely independent and neutral after the English bases were closed in 1979. I also spoke about the importance of Malta's neutrality and sovereignty within the European Union context. In fact, I said that solutions must not be based on harmonization and common rules as this would impeach on the member states' sovereignty rights. Thus, using Malta as an example I emphasized that Malta must stand its ground, irrespective of the small size and strike a balance between cooperating to reach common goals whilst protecting its national interests. I also referred to the importance of addressing the immigration problem in the Mediterranean and I clearly stated that small states like Malta could not address this problem alone. Taking into consideration the chaos reigning in Libya, especially the fact that ISIS fighters are using Libya as a safe haven, away from Syria, to train Jihadists and fund and plan new attacks in Europe, I explained that we have to do something very urgently and that one of the solutions is to attack the money trail, that is the money that human traffickers are obtaining from irregular immigrants. It is known that irregular immigrants are paying about $800 per person, which amount to billions of dollars and somehow this money is finding itself in the banks. I stated very clearly that irregular immigration could lead to social disruption in the EU as the state is perceived as being unable to adequately deal with a very complex problem which requires a comprehensive approach and cooperation with other countries. However, some of the countries in the European Union are non-cooperative states. I also referred to the importance of addressing the threat of fake news and serious unfounded allegations made against a particular establishment, as what happened in Malta to members of the family of the Honourable Prime Minister with regard to the eGrant inquiry. These too can jeopardize the state and its reputation which could in turn have a number of detrimental effects. After the first session was debated, we went through the second session, which was entitled "Political participation: special challenges in the small state." The introductory speech was also made by Dr Christian Frommelt, Director of the Liechtenstein Institute. In this session I made reference to a recent survey carried out by economists about the Democracy Index in 2017 among all the 28 states of the EU. I explained that less than half of the EU countries were found to be fully democratic and that Malta was one of them. In fact, Malta was described as one of the best full democracies in the EU. Full democracies are defined as countries in which not only basic political freedoms and civil liberties are expected, but which also tend to be underpinned by a political culture conducive to the flourishing democracies. In order for a country to be considered as a full democracy, it has to rate 8 and above out of a 10 rating. Malta rated 8.15. I explained this because unfortunately it is a fact that a lot of damage was done by Maltese representatives abroad who should have known better to protect the country. I also explained that the fact that we have extremism and populism in Europe, the forthcoming European Parliament directions are likely to condition political debate on issues like immigration for the coming months as an anti establishment and far right movements are poised to make gains further weakening the whole of the two main European political parties, that is the European People's Party and the Socialists Democratic Groups. I also emphasized the fact that Malta's participation in full democracy is very strong. In fact, in every general election we have over 93% of the electorate that voluntarily votes in the elections. I also mentioned the recent legal amendments allowing 16 year olds to participate in the general elections to come, which is a positive reality which is not easily found in other European countries. I also emphasized Malta's huge progress towards equality, whereby it legalised civil unions and achieved substantial progress as regard to LGBTIQ equality, mainstreaming and rights. Civil liberties are a very important pillar of any well functioning democracy. In the afternoon, there was the third session which was entitled "International relations and diplomacy: strategies and priorities" and the opening speech was made once again by Dr Christian Frommelt. In this session I participated very strongly with regard to the tactics and strategies of Malta to influence EU policies. I said that although Malta is the smallest state in the EU, it is very active throughout the legislative process in the working meetings of the Council and in other institutions. I also said that Malta, like other small states, should always set priorities and invest its scarce resources in conducting strategies to influence the content of the European policies in areas which are the most important for it. Subsequently I emphasized the fact that since Malta is a neutral country, it can engage in more "neutral mediation". Malta, like other small states, can always influence EU policies through an honest focused strategy by which they mediate between the bargaining efforts of opposing camps. That means that smallness can be an asset for gaining influence mass in neutrality. I explained that Malta has always played a very important role in the international arena. In fact, in 1975 it was Malta who stood firm in the CSCE Process in the Helsinki Conference and eventually managed to include the Mediterranean Chapter. That means that the participation of the Arab countries and Iran was also included. Then I explained that Malta's role made a concrete impact in the past few years by taking proactive steps in parliamentary diplomacy, where on the 5th of July 2018, the Parliament of Malta, under my presidency, not only had a very active role in launching the International Parliament for Tolerance and Peace but also ensured to constitute one of the two main pillars of the Global Council for Tolerance and Peace. In fact, in January 2019 we will host the 5+5 Conference which will include five Northern African States with the aim of discussing complex issues and possible solutions related to the Mediterranean. This is another opportunity for the Maltese Parliament to promote and enhance good international relations. Of course, the fact that you are small means that you have to work harder. However, hard work led to me being elected as the first Chairperson of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association of Small Branches, which means that I am in charge of 43 small branches with a population of less than half a million within the Commonwealth. This also meant that we have to work even harder. In fact, Malta's diplomatic efforts in recently resolving two incidents involving the Aquarius in early June and mid-August was thanks to Malta' efforts that a number of EU members states agreed to accept some of those refuges, thus putting into practice the principle of responsibility sharing between states. I concluded my speech by highlighting the active participation of the Maltese parliamentary delegations in other international conferences. The conference came to an end on Friday, where we had an audience granted by His Highness the Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein in the Vaduz Castle. However, on Friday I was requested to have a bilateral meeting with the Speaker of Montenegro, Ivan Brajovic and together we discussed various topics, including the setting up of a friendship group between the Maltese Parliament and the Montenegro Parliament. During this meeting I emphasized the fact that Malta's Parliament would continue to support the Parliament of Montenegro in the enlargement of the EU membership.