The Continental European Market

In this public discussion detailing Maltese MEPs' work in the past legislature, MEP Alfred Sant noted that the EU is lagging far behind on capital market integration, although the EP has pushed for more ambition given the disagreements between member states. This is due to countries that have well-functioning share and stock exchange systems for their national interests, and other governments that fear losing control.

“The rules of the Stability Pact of the EU should be changed in such a way that investment costs are not calculated in a country’s deficit, and there should be a shift towards some form of central fund used as a treasury for European investments,” he stated.

MEP Sant warned about the risk of economies based on social welfare expenditure if there are too many new demands on the EU budget. “If you have rules that continue to be implemented as they are, and there cannot be a certain deficit because of them, in order not to have a deficit it becomes imperative to reduce costs, and cuts will often be made in social expenditure”.

Asked about the EU project for a fiscal union, he expressed the view that "it is impossible to have a full fiscal union if there is no central treasury for the EU".

As his most significant task in the European Parliament, MEP Sant singled out the law for the cybersecurity of banks (the Digital Operational Resilience Act, or DORA), which was triggered, among other factors, by the cyberattack on a Maltese bank some years ago, in which millions of euros were stolen.

"This is a complex and innovative law that introduces cyberdefence systems for banks against the danger of attacks and theft. In this law, we had total harmony between the Council of the EU and the EP, because everyone wants cybersecurity."