Malta’s uncertain road to EU membership and its impact on pre-accession assistance funding

Abstract

Malta, a small group of islands in the central Mediterranean, was a British colony from 1800 until 1964. France’s initial veto of the United Kingdom’s application to join the European Community (EC) meant that Malta’s rela-tions with the EC were not prioritized until the late 1960s, as part of its drive to diversify its economy.1 The country established its first links with the Community with the signing of an Association Agreement (AA) in 1970.2 The agreement envisaged a two-stage process, covering ten years, which would see Malta move towards a customs union with the EC but bilateral relations became troubled and Malta did not go beyond the first stage of the agree-ment. At the core of this breakdown in relations was Malta’s highly polarized, two-party system.