Gozo has recently been in the news for the wrong reasons: the privatisation of a public hospital and resultant deficiencies in services offered; Gozo channel workers on strike; lack of national and EU funds for road projects; certain development projects that can ruin the island’s unique beauty; and students who are facing prohibitive rent costs in Malta. The list goes on.
One hopes that tonight’s budget will give due importance to Gozo and recognise its characteristics as a small island within a small island state: an island off another island that suffers from double insularity.
From an economic perspective this can result in disadvantages such as the expensive transportation of industrial supplies, thus impinging on the competitivity of manufacturing. It also means that around 7,000 Gozitans currently work in Malta, with around 3,000 of these being employed in the private sector: a minority within a minority, as one recently put it.
On the other hand, Gozo should compete well in services such as tourism and financial services. The former is characterised by the success of the private sector, but the latter needs more incentives by the government to take off.
Gozo can also have its own version of Malta Enterprise with the intention to attract foreign direct investment in areas which can be produced on a smaller scale, including the same financial services and other sectors where IT connectivity is of paramount importance. For this reason, government investment in the latter can help attract companies which do need to constantly import industrial supplies for their operations.
The government can also develop the idea of moving certain public service operations to Gozo. This already exists in some areas and can be developed further to help keep Gozitan workers on their island, should they wish to do so. Besides, through evidence-based policy making, the government can identify problems, risks, opportunities and strategic niches which can be dealt with.
This would involve various social-scientific methodologies and impact assessments and thorough consultation with stakeholders such as residents, workers, students, experts and entrepreneurs.
More can also be done so that Gozo gets a better deal out of Malta’s EU membership. The proposal to have it recognised as an EU region that qualifies for suitable regional funds should be endorsed by all political players. This will enable the island to have a better status within EU policy frameworks. The expert input of key professionals is vital for such a proposal to be taken seriously at EU level.
Let us keep in mind that Gozo currently faces difficulties in accessing and absorbing EU funding, even since current programmatic requirements do not seem to be tailored for the needs of such islands within small islands.
From a political perspective, institutional allies should be sought so that Gozo can have better access to EU funds.
The European Committee of the Regions is one of them. Last year it endorsed a request of the Maltese EU presidency and adopted an opinion regarding islands’ economic, social and territorial development. It called for an island clause in EU cohesion policies for the 2020-27 period, given that 362 islands within the bloc “face permanent structural difficulties specific to them which entail additional costs for their businesses and which affect their development prospects”.
It is important that such requests are put to life and acted upon so that Gozo gets the respect it deserves within the European community. Again, alliance-building within the EU is important especially since the 362 EU islands with over 50 inhabitants each represent almost 18 million people. Their per capita gross domestic product amounts to around 79 per cent of the EU average in 2010, and many islands remain in the less developed region category.
Article 174 of the European treaty states that island regions warrant attention from the EU, which must aim to reduce disparities between the levels of development of the various regions within and between member states. Malta should lobby harder for the implementation of this article and set an example through tangible initiatives for Gozo during tonight’s budget.
Malta should also decentralise and devolve more powers to Gozo so that its own policymakers and civil society will have a greater say in decision making. Empowerment in practice.
This article appears in Times of Malta print edition, 22nd October 2018.
