‘Malta asked to join the EU, not the other way round’ – EU Ambassador

by a staff reporter

The EU’s representative in Malta, Ronald Gallimore, last Thursday gave his impressions about Malta and the Maltese and the country’s membership application for EU membership.
One very interesting point made by Mr Gallimore was the belief among some in Malta that the EU was more interested in Malta’s membership than the other way round. “Malta applied to join the EU, not the other way round,” he said.
Three months in to his term of office here in Malta, Mr Gallimore dwelt on his assessment of how the Maltese are looking at the European Union.
Mr Gallimore began his presentation by asking at what stage are we in the accession negotiations?
That same day, he said, a meeting at deputies level was being held and most probably (they actually did) decide to open five new chapters in Malta’s accession negotiations while provisionally concluding one chapter.
Another eight chapters will be opened under the Swedish presidency but the all-important agriculture chapter may not be opened under the Swedish presidency but under the Belgian one, in the second half of the year, he said.
“It takes a lot of time to prepare the position paper with regards to agriculture,” Mr Gallimore said, “and it is far better to prepare it well even though the original timetable may not be kept.”
Twelve chapters have been provisionally closed and the thirteenth was closed last Thursday.
A total of 30 chapters have to be negotiated and agreed upon before accession and the more complex ones are the ones which are now coming up. The chapters which have been provisionally closed are the chapters where there were no problems, he explained.
“The EU always says that the chapters are provisionally closed at this stage. This means that they can be re-opened later on. The chapters are provisionally closed when the government of the candidate country states what it is going to do as regards a particular theme. The commission later has to make sure that the government of the candidate country has done what it committed itself to do,” the EU ambassador said.
In other words, there is first the work of transposing the acquis communautaire, the body of EU legislation, on to the national statute books. Then, the setting up of the appropriate structures. And lastly ensuring that enforcement really works, that a level playing field is being truly established and that the enforcement capability is active.
Mr Gallimore warned the EU has one fundamental principle: that there must be no discrimination within it.
It is understandable that every
candidate country (and every member state too) state that they have special arguments and special conditions, but the EU insists that there must be no discrimination within it.
The EU will not budge on this, he stressed.
For example, he added, clarifying his statement, it may be possible to argue that the sea around some place needs special conservation measures, but these measures must apply equally to Maltese fishermen and to foreign fishermen. Malta cannot hope to have a situation whereby Maltese fishermen can fish but foreign fishermen cannot.
Mr Gallimore also took the opportunity to make some observations he made since arriving in Malta.
“It was Malta which applied for EU membership, not the other way around,” he said.
“The Maltese government applied for EU membership in full knowledge of its obligations under the EU legislation. At the time of application, the EU had been in existence for over 40 years. To get to this point, the member states had all done a lot of sacrifices. In other words, it is not that the EU is trying to impose its rules on Malta. If Malta wants to join the EU, it will have to subscribe to its system,” he said.
Referring to the institutional responsibilities inside the EU, Mr Gallimore said the European Commission generates all the initiatives inside the Union. It takes on the technical negotiations with candidate countries and it manages the pre-accession funds. It is not a political organisation. The final decisions as regards accession will be taken by the member states, who will also decide on any special arrangements. The Commission, and the EU’s delegates around the world, prepare the technical ground, but they are not involved in the political discussions.
Thirdly, the EU is a dynamic Union, moving forward, adapting its rules to the international global situation. “The EU is not static: it needs to be looked at in an evolving manner.”
With regards to negotiations, these have to be give and take. “There must be some giving on the part of the applicant countries, some costs. EU membership is a matter of benefits and costs. One must also remember that the EU member states have had costs to pay for the Union to be where it is today,” he said.
As regards specificity, all candidate countries and indeed all member states insist on each country’s specificity. The EU has to take this into account but specificity must not be turned into a reason for not doing something.
“The all-important duty now for applicant countries is preparation for accession. It is important that the social partners prepare for accession. It is going to be a rush for everyone involved and every item has to fight for space.”
The Maltese tell him that they need to know, and so indeed they do. They tell him they need information, and the EU delegation tries its best to provide information. It is continually bringing people over to provide information: they find out what information needs there are and provide it. There is already a lot of information here, more than in other applicant countries, he said.
“The EU delegation provides information in a non-political manner, yet it is sometimes attacked as constituting interference. The EU delegation has no intention of interfering.”
Three months after arriving in Malta, Mr Gallimore said he was impressed with the number of initiatives going on in Malta.
Yet, he said, with regards to the accession negotiations, he could not help feeling that on the one hand the accession requirements are complex and burdensome and perhaps the Maltese can streamline their many organisations and chambers, pool resources and instead of having a lot of one-man teams, get economy of scale with a bigger team where cooperation reigns.
Mr Gallimore said some structural adjustments have to be made in Malta, regardless of EU membership.
“The Commission is used to be blamed for everything all over Europe: people always blame Brussels,” he said.
The environment was another area that had to be tackled with immediacy. “The Maltese must look long-term, get above the political debate and start discussing the issues,” he said.
“In this globalised world, where we all face global challenges, people must come together and ask themselves what they are doing today to make the world a better place for today’s children,” Mr Gallimore concluded.
Taking questions from the numerous guests attending the breakfast, the first question came from Stefano Mallia. He said accession is based on the differentiation principle: a country is taken in when it is ready. But there is the Cyprus issue because of the division of the island; and there is the Polish issue with its problems on agriculture. Is there a possibility that Malta will be ready in two years’ time and the accession door will not be opened?
Mr Gallimore said that if all goes according to plan, the negotiations should be ready by 2002 so that the first accession will take place by 2004. Of course, nothing is so simple. There could be situations where accession will have to be postponed to 2005.
One result of the Nice summit, Mr Gallimore replied, has been that enlargement is now a very important priority for the EU. The EU leaders were up all night and stayed in all weekend to finalise the details of the post-accession EU. His feeling is that the leaders will work hard to keep to the timetable they themselves have set.
Reuben Bonello said it was high time that somebody said what the cost of staying out of the EU would be for Malta.
Anthony Manduca, the editor of The Malta Independent on Sunday, said that it seemed natural that the EU would like Malta to vote in favour of EU membership and would not like a repetition of the Norwegian experience. Will the EU keep this in mind when considering Malta’s particular membership requests?
Mr Gallimore replied in the negative. The EU would like to have Malta inside the Union, but the decision lies squarely in the hands of the Maltese people. The Commission, he said, negotiates on the technical level. If special arrangements are made, they have to be justified by the government and will be of a limited duration. Speaking on a personal basis, Dr Michael Falzon, the international secretary of the Malta Labour Party, referred to two of Mr Gallimore’s statements: that it was Malta which asked to join and that the EU is based on the principle of non-discrimination.
He agrees that one should cost the price for not going in, but we should also cost the price of going in. Government already has a lot of information in this regard but it is keeping everything secret. Government must disclose these reports to the public.
Mr C. Delicata asked about the setting up of tax centres like the Channel Islands but Mr Gallimore told him he could not give him an immediate answer. “Malta is not an offshore island of another country, it is a country on its own. Generally speaking, the EU is trying to establish a fresh new level playing field all around. There will be no room for the existing derogations to be applied elsewhere,” he explained.
Stefano Mallia asked what could happen if the Irish vote against ratifying the Nice Treaty. Mr Gallimore told him he has not heard anything about this possibility, as the Commission is totally immersed preparing 115 common positions.
Mr Mallia asked whether the EU could be more present in Malta in a physical way. The Maltese have been hearing about the EU since 1990 but nothing exists to remind them of the benefits of the EU.
Mr Gallimore replied that funding is a tricky question. Malta cannot benefit from EU programmes such as Sapar. The only possibility for more pre-accession funds could be for the environment. The roads will have to wait until after the accession, he said.
“At this stage, I cannot promise anything,” he said. Mr Gallimore also announced that EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstroem will be visiting Malta on 26 and 27 April.