Brussels, 08/03/2000 (Agence Europe) - Visiting Malta on 5 and 6 March, President Prodi and Commissioner Verheugen "praised Malta's progress towards accession" of the European Union. They recalled that, thanks to the fact that the negotiating system by groups of candidates had been abandoned, it was now possible for Malta, depending on its progress in adopting the acquis communautaire, to catch up the with the candidate countries who had started negotiating in 1998. The Commissioner and President called on Malta to pursue its reforms in modernising of its economy, as well as in priority fields targeted in the Partnership Agreement for Accession: environment, freedom of movement for goods and capital, justice and home affairs, maritime safety. The EU will continue to support Malta in its efforts (at least 38 million euro in grants are available for the period 2000-2004, on top of EIB loans).