VISIT TO MALTA BY THE HON. PRIME MINISTER LETTA 

On the 10th and 11th of November the Hon. Prime Minister Enrico Letta paid an Official Visit to Malta on the invitation of  Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.  During the talks the two Heads of Government emphasized the importance of the close bilateral collaboration between Italy and Malta, also in view of the decisions that the European Union is about to make regarding the relations with North African Countries, the Mediterranean and  immigration.

In this regard, Letta and Muscat have called for more common commitment by Europe on migration issues and they have reiterated the expectation that concrete measures can be approved during the Justice and Home Affairs Council and  the European Council next December.

Both parties expressed satisfaction for the progress made in the negotiations with regard to oil exploration and joint exploitation of the areas of the Continental Shelf over which Italy and Malta have disputes. The Maltese Authorites have been invited to visit Rome in order to continue the negotiations with the aim of finalising as soon as possible an agreement and to resume at the same time bilateral talks on the demarcation of the Continental Shelf.  An Italo-Maltese Collaboration Protocol would set a precedent for neighbouring Countries since it would be the first agreement of this kind in the Mediterranean.

Prime Minister Letta lastly explained  the state of preparation for and the priorities of Italy’s Presidency of the European Union.  According to the intentions of the Italian Government, the second semestre of 2014 must usher in a new European legislature focused on growth and employment, overcoming the season of austerity and of  mere fiscal consolidation. The strategy to promote the economic recovery  of the European Union will result in various interventions with an emphasis on those policies in favour of work and with the aim of fighting  youth unemployment. Italy will continue at the same time to boost the economic recovery deepening the home market and favouring the liberalization  of commercial trade  (even in view of the advocated conclusion  of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the European Union and the United States of America.

The Embassy is very grateful for the particularly warm welcome offered by the Maltese Authorites to the Italian Prime Minister and records with satisfaction the declarations of Prime Minister Muscat of considering Italy “an essential partner” at European level and of wanting to deepen the ties with Rome in many areas.