The Europeanization of Maltese political parties : its impact on their political agenda and organisation

Abstract

The E.U. impacts three domestic dimensions: The Politics; Polity, and Policies. The Europeanization of Political Parties is a recent analysis of work. In fact, the study of the impact of E.U. Integration upon the domestic political parties took off in 1979, after the first European Parliament elections. A standard approach has been achieved in the past ten years of research on Europeanization. According to Robert Ladrech, a direct and an indirect impact of Europeanization are visible in each and every party. Also, a 'top-down' and a 'bottom-up' Europeanization approach are also vital at identifying the impact of the E.U. on national political parties. While the Maltese Nationalist Party worked for Independence and for Europeanization, the MLP worked hard for Freedom and Neutrality. By identifying certain historical relationships of the main Maltese political parties, and their foreign aspirations for Malta, would aid in providing a holistic view that the parties are often polarised and are often hooked on 'foreign' issues. Hence an outward-looking approach of the parties is visible at enhancing a polarised but also a parochial intention. While for the NP, the E.U. was a goal they wanted to achieve for almost twenty years; many claim that once the Party achieved membership, they stopped at not knowing "What's next?". Hence many claim that this was the point of arrival for the NP. On the other hand, the LP although defeated , took this opportunity and saw membership as a point of departure for a new journey for Malta. Hence - changing its organisation, agenda and policies closer to the E.U . When looking back at the Maltese political history, one would notice that parties tend to work hard at achieving something when in government but once the party achieves what it wants, it lacks the vision of what would be the next step (unless a new leader would be elected). Joining the 'Party of the European Social-Democrats', the MLP, led to a change amongst others, in: name; leader, and; certain party members. In a nut-shell, the LP wanted to become a new movement with fresh members and fresh ideas. This Party was the most influenced by Europeanization, for almost all of its policies and agendas showed so. Also, the new leader of the Party and currently the Prime Minister of Malta, as well as the LP Deputy leader, were former Members of the European Parliament.

On the other hand, the NP was the party that pushed Europeanization influence in Malta. The NP was the party in government during the first nine years of membership and had to implement a huge cultural and political shift in Malta. However, although electing a former MEP as their leader after the defeat of the 2013 General Election, (an affect of the Europeanization process), the NP may have lacked the vision to notice that the Maltese population mentality have been affected by Europeanization as well.