Malta and ten years of EU membership : how tenacious was the island?

Abstract

Since it is difficult to attempt a broad analysis covering all the aspects of what ten years of European Union membership have meant for Malta, this article focuses on a selection of the most salient impacts of membership, preceded by a description of Malta, a characterization of its politics, and an analysis of the traditionally polarized political scene, in which the positions of the two most important Maltese parties on EU and NATO membership are discussed. Topics addressed include the analysis of the changes in the political landscape of Malta as a consequence of the policy changes of the Maltese political parties on EU integration; party shifts on the neutrality issue; Malta’s way of tackling the immigration burden, and some considerations on the economic effects of European Union membership.