Malta

Basic information

-- Back to overview --

Mechanisms of Vertical Integration

National — sub-national linkages

Generally, the structure for SD policy-making is very centralised in Malta. The main reason for this is that local authorities have limited responsibilities and also lack resources (technical, financial, etc).

Regarding preparation of the NSDS, representatives of the local level participated in the National Commission for SD (NCSD) that was responsible for drafting the NSDS. The NCSD organised some targeted workshops with stakeholders (including local authorities) and a national conference. Moreover, the members of the NCSD commented upon the draft NSDS. The Association of Local Councils also established a focal point who was in permanent contact with the NCSD. Therefore, the local authorities were kept informed about the drafting of the NSDS and could provide comments.

Regarding implementation, the major responsibility lies with the national level. There will be coordination with local authorities by the various sectoral ministries. However, no general coordination between the national and sub-national level on NSDS implementation will be established.

There are only very few LA 21 initiatives on the local level. The NSDS, however, formulated the objective to push local authorities to create LA 21 initiatives.

EU linkages

The renewed EU Strategy for Sustainable Development (EU SDS) that was adopted in June 2006 foresees that Member States bi-annually report about how they address the priorities of the EU SDS. Malta has published its first national report on implementing the EU SDS in July 2007.

-- Back to overview --

Mechanisms of Horizontal Integration

The National Commission for Sustainable Development (NCSD) has the objective to ensure that Government ministries and other state bodies carry out their responsibilities in implementing the NSDS. The Commission is either chaired by the Prime Minister or the Ministry of Environment. The NCSD includes representatives of all Government ministries.

For the implementation, a Commissioner for SD will be appointed. The Office of the Commissioner for SD will be located in the Office of the Prime Minister.

-- Back to overview --

Evaluation and Review

Monitoring and evaluation of NSDS lies within the responsibility of the NCSD. Additionally, annual conferences with the participation of major stakeholders should be organized in order to critically evaluate the progress on SD, and a report of the conference should be presented to the Prime Minister.

A review and update of the NSDS are scheduled for 2010.

-- Back to overview --

Indicators and Monitoring

The Maltese NSDS includes a set of 24 indicators which are referred to as ‘headline indicators’. The indicators are grouped according to the top-level goals outlined in the NSDS (these are the three pillars of SD plus ‘Cross-cutting strategic issues’). Additionally, 2 of the indicators are associated with the implementation of the strategy.

The full list(s) of indicators as identified by a study commissioned by Eurostat can be downloaded here:

• NSDS indicators (2006)

-- Back to overview --

Participation

The National Commission for Sustainable Development (NCSD) was established by the Environmental Protection Act in 2001. The main objectives of the NCSD are to prepare the NSDS, advocate SD across all sectors of Malta, review progress in the achievement of SD, build consensus on action needed to achieve further progress and identify any relevant process which may undermine the achievement of SD.

The NCSD embarked on a wide consultation process that was launched with a national conference in April 2004. Besides the general public, major stakeholders were invited to discuss and provide feedback on the various sectoral issues exposed in the NSDS. Following this conference, continuous consultations meetings were held with major stakeholders were held, including NGOs, trade unions, national authorities, representatives of industry, tourism, transport, etc.

For a detailed documentation of all advisory and participatory councils (for SD and/or the environment) in this country, please go to the EEAC website at http://www.eeac-net.org/bodies/malta/mt_frame.htm and click on one of the listed institutions.

-- Back to overview --

Sub-national activities

-- Back to overview --

This Country Profile has been last updated on: Friday, 05 December 2008

For the sources used in the country profiles, please click here.