The impact of EU funding on Malta's heritage

Abstract

Malta's entry into the European Union has brought with it many exciting opportunities, not least for cultural heritage which can benefit from funds allocated for this specific purpose. In this thesis the author explores the impact that EU membership has had on Malta's cultural Heritage. He begins first by providing the exact definition of heritage that he will be working with and follows this with a methodology. In this methodology the author presents a set of research questions focusing on the period of 2007-2013. In particular he will be looking at the ERDF structural fund within this period and will be focusing on the projects that have benefited from these funds in order to get a picture of how the EU funds have affected Maltese cultural heritage. Following the methodology is the literature review which will first give a brief overview of the EU and culture and then another brief overview of what exactly the author is referring to when he talks about Maltese heritage. The author then attempts to build a small picture of Malta's Heritage priorities with which to base the research results on. In the research analysis the author looks at the strategic documents and then compiles a database of heritage projects that have been undertaken using structural funds. This is followed by a data analysis and conclusion.