Malta’s EU Story : how ten years of EU membership have changed the country : a discussion paper

Abstract

In May 2014 Malta celebrated the tenth anniversary of its accession to the European Union. In those ten years, the nature of our relationship with the EU has been transformed from the major point of political contention in the country, to a subject of national consensus. Much else has also changed in these ten years, such as our level of connectedness with the outside world, our currency, the structure of our economy, the way we manage our environment, and our civil society. Our young country has grown up a little – yet while it has discarded some of its adolescent angst along the way, it has a new set of grown-up problems to contend with. This discussion paper seeks to tell the broad story of this process. It does not try to be comprehensive, nor does it try to evaluate progress within all the different sectors affected by EU membership. It is, instead, a broad brushstroke look at what the accession process and EU membership have meant for Malta, and the challenges before us. The paper does not try to provide the answers, but to stimulate a debate. Part I looks at the situation of a pre-accession Malta, in search of its political identity and looking for a way to secure its economic future, turning towards the EU, but facing an uncertain and challenging accession path. Part II looks at Malta’s evolution as an EU Member State in a number of areas, such as its international profile, its economy, and the management of its environment, while Part III takes stock of some of the challenges still before us.