Malta and Romania find common ground on European Union issues
Malta and Romania found common ground on issues that are currently high on the EU’s agenda, when the Romanian Secretary of State for European Affairs, Mr George Ciamba, met the Maltese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for European Affairs Mr Louis Grech, at Auberge d’Aragon, reports the Maltese Independent.
Mr Grech and Mr Ciamba discussed the issue of tax harmonisation and also agreed that, though tax transparency is an important objective, tax harmonisation is a completely different issue. Low-taxation countries should not be forced to migrate to high-taxation regimes.
Parliamentary Secretary, Ian Borg who was present for the meeting, briefed Mr Ciamba on Malta’s preparations for the EU Presidency in 2017, when migration, the review of the Multi-annual Financial Framework, competitiveness, the Energy Union and the Blue Economy are likely to be high on the agenda. He said he looked forward to briefing the Romanian Government, including Mr Ciamba, further during his forthcoming trip to Bulgaria and Romania.
Secretary of State Mr Ciamba remarked that the EU’s maritime and Blue Economy policy should not be acted upon without an element of reciprocity by non-EU countries, as this would only mean that the obligations on Member States would render them at a comparative disadvantage.
