Study on the potential and needs of the new member states (No 2004 CE 16 0 AT 038). Country report : Malta

Abstract

This document presents an assessment of how Cohesion policy funding in 2007-2013 can assist Malta to engage with the main developmental challenges and opportunities that it faces.

Although all new Member States are facing a range of complex economic, social and environmental issues, these challenges are amplified in the case of Malta due to its small size and high population density. In fact, what makes Malta different from the other Member States include among others, limited resource endowments, constraints on its ability to reap the benefits of economies of scale due to indivisibilities and limited scope for specialisation, high dependence on international trade, production possibility limitations and insularity. Furthermore, Malta’s population density, at around 1,200 persons per square kilometre is almost 12 times higher than the EU average and brings about more additional challenges, mostly related to the infrastructure and environment.

While Objective 6 of the Structural Funds is, “promoting the development and structural adjustment of regions with an extremely low population density”, no objective exists which helps to promote the development and structural adjustment of regions with an extremely high population density, such as Malta. Although it is undeniable that sparsely population regions required more funding in order to overcome obstacles to further development, it is equally undeniable that regions with a high population density require additional funding due to additional challenges.