Malta Could Receive 75% Of Infrastructure Investment Costs From EU

by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London

13 November 2002

Speaking to the Times of Malta this week, Arhi Palosuo, the official responsible for Malta at the European Union's Enlargement Unit, revealed that the jurisdiction could find itself on the receiving end of substantial EU aid for infrastructure investment, if it chooses to accede as planned in 2004.

In an interview with the Maltese newspaper, Mr Palosuo revealed that infrastructural investment is linked to regional policy, and that EU member states are offered the opportunity to submit projects for assistance, citing investment in roads, ports, and other development areas as examples.

'The EU would want the government to shoulder part of the cost but most of the funding would come from the EU. These costs are not a burden as they are an investment and Malta needs to undertake these projects in any case,' he explained, continuing:

'The world economy is changing fast and things cannot remain as they are today, irrespective of whether or not Malta joins the EU. So the Maltese people have a choice to do what needs to be done with aid from the EU instead of going it alone, which is not always easy.'

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