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Malta’s PM Eddie Fenech Adami and Foreign Minister Joe Borg signing Malta’s accession treaty to the EU in 2003.
Malta has received some €158 million of EU funds annually during the last decade, totalling €1.6 billion according to new information submitted to parliament.
Before Malta joined the EU in 2004, a political debate ensued on how much funds Malta would receive if it joined. While positions between political parties varied, membership has been positive regarding the boost it has given state coffers.
Economy Minister Silvio Schembri told Nationalist MP Chris Said that aside from the funds received so far, Malta is set to accept hundreds of millions of euros more in the coming years.
The highest-ever amount of funds received was during the first year of a Labour government in 2014 when Malta received €229 million. This happened as Malta was at the end of its seven-year EU budget cycle when most of the EU-funded projects came to an end, were certified and paid out.
The only year in which Malta received over €200 million in EU funds was 2022 when it received €224 million. This again fell at the end of the seven-year EU budgetary program in 2020.
On the other hand, the lowest amount of EU funds received during the last decade was in 2018, when Malta’s intake from the EU amounted to just €99 million.
EU funds are allocated to Malta depending on the state of its economy; the more prosperous the economy, the fewer funds it is eligible for, while its contributions to the EU increase.
As Malta achieves much higher economic growth than the EU average, it is expected to stop being a net recipient of EU funds in the near future.
However, that discussion and final decision will only happen in 2026/2027, when the current budgetary period ends.
Through these funds, Malta delivered hundreds of projects, from significant improvements in its arterial roads to major restoration projects, including its unique fortifications and the launch of several services in social and economic fields.
