The impact of the European Union on Malta's foreign policy priorities during the first ten years of membership

Abstract

2014 marks the 10th year anniversary of Malta's European Union accession. Malta is the smallest Member State of the EU-28, with a population of just over 400,000 crowded in an island- state of 315 kilometres squared. Malta officially joined the EU on the 1st of May 2004. This thesis sets the discussion on how membership has impacted Malta's foreign policy making at national level, and how foreign policy conduct has changed as a result. Until membership, Maltese foreign policy was centred around the concept of neutrality and non- alignment which is enshrined in the Constitution of Malta. Yet, once a country becomes a full member state in the European Union, its central concern in foreign policy becomes membership itself. This is documented in Malta's foreign policy Strategic Objective 2: ''Make a success of European Union Membership and contribute towards the construction of a European Union which gives added value to its member states and its citizens '' How does Malta's diplomatic corps go about to uphold this paradigm shift in foreign policy conduct, and will that clash in any way with the Neutrality declaration signed in 1981? The first chapter paves the way into the concept of Europeanization of national foreign policy by reviewing literature on the subject. The following chapters examine Malta's foreign policy conduct before and after membership. To determine these conclusions, this study first looks at the fundamental changes in Malta's foreign policy not only in the last decade but since Independence five decades ago. Once a clearer picture is established, it will be then possible to look at Malta's two major foreign policy decisions in the past decades, these being the Neutrality declaration of 1981 and the signing of European Union membership in 2004. Both address Malta's security in different ways; one by a pro-active commitment to peace, and the other by seeking connections and pooling resources.