“Gozo will always have a very special place in my heart – anyone who has had the chance to spend a few minutes visiting the island will know exactly what I mean – but more than that – Gozo as an island territory is always at the forefront of my considerations in the policies that I advocate within the European Parliament.
There are a number of areas of concern that are unique to Gozo and that must be addressed in a coherent and holistic manner be it creating the right conditions for strong job creation on the island or seriously improving the links between Gozo and Malta” said Roberta Metsola, Member of the European Parliament for Malta.
Roberta Metsola was addressing the 13th Annual Forum of the Network of Insular Chambers of Commerce of the European Union (INSULEUR), which chose Gozo to host its annual event.
MEP Metsola said that in February of this year Malta had managed, through tough negotiations and goodwill, to convince its European partners that Gozo should receive more funds than it currently has allocated under the 2007-2013 financing period. And in declaration 36 of the 2014-2020 EU budget Gozo has been provided with the additional funding it is entitled to. For the next seven years, apart from the €78 million under Cohesion Policy a further €32 million (23% of Malta’s agricultural allocation) will be ring-fenced for Gozo, to bring the minimum total allocation for Gozo (Cohesion and Agriculture) to €110 million.
Organized jointly by the Network of the Insular Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the European Union and the Gozo Business Chamber, the forum was titled ‘Europe 2020 Strategy in Insular Regions through active Citizenship’.
Following the conference MEP Metsola continued with her regular meetings with Gozo NGOs and Civil Society, and also visited Dar Ġużeppa Debono, an NGO set up to provide help to single mothers and fathers. As part of her visit, MEP Metosla was introduced to the ‘Lwien Project’, an initiative launched by the NGO and part-funded by the EU’s European Social Fund. The aim of the project is to offer young adolescent girls with the opportunity to purse accredited courses designed to help face their everyday challenges and to improve their possibility of employment. Commenting on the Project, Dr Metsola stated, “ As a Member of the European Parliament, I shall continue to push for EU funding to be delivered to those areas where it is needed most”.
MEP Metsola also paid a visit to another EU funded project, the ‘Heart of Gozo: Il-Ħaġar Museum’. The aim of the initiative is to promote Il-Ħaġar, the medieval town of Gozo, through the display of its vast and rich historical patrimony.
The project had originally been launched after a €1.2 million investment by the former government and was inaugurated earlier on in the year. The EU funded 85% of the funds, with the money provided have being allocated under the EU’s European Development Regional Fund.
