Malta and EU membership : adaptation, change and modernisation

Abstract

Soon after gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1964, Malta began to seek to establish a formal link with the European Economic Community (EEC). Since then it has used these relations as a vehicle for adapting itself to the ever changing international context and as a tool for facilitating the much needed process of change and modernisation of the domestic economy. EU membership opens up a new phase whose ramifications on Malta may be much broader and deeper, touching not only on Malta’s economy and its international relations, but on other key domains such as the environment, the legal system and the judiciary, Malta’s social structure and political culture.