The long road to Brussels

The European Union on Tuesday formally opened membership negotiations with Malta as well as five other central and eastern European countries. This is certainly a historic occasion and one which the country has been looking forward to for quite a long time. Although Malta and the European Community signed an Association Agreement in 1970, which many considered as the first step towards membership, the 1971-1987 Labour government did nothing to deepen the ties between the two sides.

The 1970 Association Agreement was in fact meant to lead to the complete removal of duty on imports from Europe but this never happened, even though Malta was given duty free access for its exports to Europe, except for agriculture.

A lot of time was therefore wasted during this period which was characterised by heavy State intervention in the economy, a general lack of competition in the market and severe restrictions on free trade. It is even more unfortunate that the Labour Party remained in office after the 1981 election despite the Nationalist Party receiving an absolute majority of votes from the electorate. Had a Nationalist government applied to join the European Community in 1981 there is no doubt that Malta would be a member State today.

Malta applied to join the European Community in 1990 and it was unfortunately left out of the 1995 enlargement, mainly because it was not as well prepared to join as the EFTA countries were. The 1987-1996 Nationalist government in fact adopted a rather cautious approach towards economic liberalisation and restructuring and this perhaps explains why the EU considered us ill-prepared to enter in 1995. The Nationalists' reluctance to liberalise immediately was due partly due to their centrist political outlook and partly due to the fact that they inherited an administration which lacked the basic characteristics of a market economy.

In June 1995 the EU committed itself to enter into membership talks with Malta six months after the conclusion of the EU's Intergovernmental Conference. In October 1996, however, the newly elected Labour government decided to freeze Malta's EU application, and when the European Union began membership talks with five eastern European countries and Cyprus in 1998, Malta was not included in the talks. The short-lived Labour government was replaced by a Nationalist administration in September 1998 and Malta's EU application was soon reactivated. Just over a year later, in Helsinki in December 1999, the EU formally approved the opening of accession talks with Malta, which began on Tuesday.

Malta is today passing through exciting times. The fact that tiny Malta could end up as a member of the European Union should thrill us all. Who could have imagined, some years back during our turbulent past, that we would end up negotiating to join one of the world's most prosperous and democratic blocs? In this last year we progressed smoothly in our quest to arrive at the negotiating table: the screening sessions were very successful and our representatives did Malta proud. An autonomous Malta-EU Information Centre has been set up and has already been bombarded with questions.

The next two to three years will be crucial for Malta. Indeed, whatever happens during this period will determine whether the EU membership referendum will be approved by the electorate and whether we do make it to the first enlargement. We already know that Malta, along with Cyprus, is the most economically advanced of all the applicant countries. It is therefore only logical that Malta should be included in the first EU enlargement phase, once the EU has carried out its institutional reforms, which it intends to do by the end of the year. However, to arrive at this stage requires a lot of effort by the government to convince the electorate to vote "yes" at the country's EU referendum, as well as to get the best possible deal during the negotiating process.

These are the twin challenges facing the government. The country has a golden opportunity to give its citizens a better long-term future and we must not let this opportunity pass by us. The government must think about Malta's interests when it is negotiating with Brussels and must ask for derogations or transition periods if these are necessary. It must also continuously inform the people about what progress it is making during the negotiations and it must adopt an open and honest attitude with the electorate. At the same time it must seriously start thinking about an EU "yes" campaign from now. It is true that this campaign must not peak early in the day but to wait until a few months before the referendum to organise such a lobby is rather risky, especially since the "no" campaign seems to have had a head start. Our future is in the balance!