1.128 Billion Euros. Thank You Lawrence. Vera Futur Fis-Sod

              Last November i wrote a piece where i tried to describe what happens during European Union council meetings where head of states meet to discuss specific important topics.The last three meetings dealt with European Union Budget for 2014-2020 . Most of us get the end result of these meetings ,whether good or bad .No one really appreciates what goes on during these meetings or even the preparation needed for these meetings .

            Last November s Council meeting also involved European Union Budget for 2014-2020 . That meeting was hectic and ended with no tangible result except for good prospects for Malta s share of an EU budget . This February meeting was a rolleroaster one but which ended  with excellent results for Malta .

          At this session ,Lawrence proved without any doubt what leadership,statesmanship ,shear determination means .I might be biased ,but i have never seen my brother and his team work so hard to get results. Forget elections ,get the money to continue building our Malta.

         24 hours non-stop of head of states meeting ,with the occasional hour of stoppage where a draft document is presented for study . This resulted in a flurry of deep analysis by all the team under the scrutiny of Richard Cachia Caruana . They analysed the document with pinpoint accuracy pointing flaws which were not in our countries interest .Numbers in millions thrown all over the place ,each million gained is another potential project for Malta .

        As i said before ,this meeting was a rolleroaster one . It started with what seemed to be a positive outcome for Malta following discussions in the previous two meetings. so all the staff where at a comfortable state of mind but at the same time wary that things were not yet on paper . All of a sudden in the initial stages of the Council meeting ,goalposts were changed bringing Malta at a disadvantage .Things got serious and a sense of anger abounded . Having such a professional team with a completely focused Prime Minister enabled solid arguments to be prepared and a determined Prime Minister ready for the presentation .

       Everyone was tense .After nearly 24 hours of Council discussion there was some progress but not what the Prime Minister and his team had been working for the past months

         In the last few hours of this meeting, it was either getting Malta s rightful share of the EU budget or taking a stand in stopping procedures, meaning every head of state going home with nothing decided .It would have been a distaster for Europe

        The shear determination of Lawrence managed to convince Council president that Malta s position is final and resulted in obtaining Malta s financial package .Lawrence came out tired and elated .
Malta 's future is guaranteed.

        This victory is a huge one .For a number of reasons . Objective 1 status means a country which is in early development .Due to our success in economic matters we have lost this status ,which is good in one sense because we have another certificate of good economic governance but this meant that we have lost financial allocation to countries under Objective 1status . Not only so but the whole EU budget has been reduced drastically . Theoretically we should have had a reduction in financial allocation as compared to the previous EU budget . Fortunately for us but also due to the great work performed by the Lawrence ,s team we have had a bigger budget than before .

          Over a billion euros obtained for the period of 2014-2020.

This is what leadership is all about .
This is proof of what a real Statesman  Lawrence Gonzi is.
Five years of political,economical turmoil but yet getting results.
Malta having a solid base today ready for the leap forwards. Getting Malta and Gozo better than ever.

VERA FUTUR FIS-SOD.

Well done!