Far better to serve in heaven than to reign in hell : the logic of incorporation in the European communities by a very small developing country : Malta, a case study

Abstract

In spite of the rhetoric of viability and endogenously led growth and development, small states are generally resigned to a status of dependency, surviving as rentier economies and remi ttance societies. Most appear determined today that their best (and only?) bet is for even better integration within the world economic order. They may have decolonised but they have no intention to disengage. To do so effectively, they often seek to establish a life-line to richer countries. Nevertheless, lip service to self-directed development, and a sound policy of economic management to that effect, is an important exercise: It generates and guarantees the establishment and preservation of sufficiently intimate relations with prosperous and benevolent sponsors. This paper explores the changing fortunes of Malta's experience in development planning (1959-1988) from this perspective. It appraises the economic success story of the resource poor island state, independent from Britain since 1964, while chasing the elusive phantom of viability and self-reliance. The latter has persisted stubbornly on the distant horizon; but the public relations exercise in this chase has been profitable in securing transfers and investments from abroad, perhaps turning topsy turvy the notion of unequal exchange from periphery to core. Membership into the European Communities (EC) may yet consolidate Malta's position as a "pampered periphery" ...