EU membership and the common citizen : report from the Maltese study circle

Abstract

The Maltese Study Circle is composed of a number of academics and students from the University of Malta. Its main objective is to analyse how the Maltese citizen at large is experiencing EU membership, and what is contributing towards the construction of a new EU-related ethos and orientation in Maltese national identity. It is to be noted that Malta's entry into the EU did not follow an easy path. For many ceμturies Malta was colonized by whichever power wanted/ managed to be in control of the Central Mediterranean. Independence was obtained in 1964. Although the European identity of the Maltese culture is very evident, membership in a bigger block of nations suggested to many that a return to colonization could result from EU membership, in which a small nation could be again engulfed in global politics with the concomitant loss of what had been achieved through independence. Pre-accession debates were therefore very hot, and the Maltese population was divided across the middle, though everybody realized that strong relations with the EU were necessary for the economy. It took a referendum and a general election to confirm membership. The Malta Labour Party, which previously spearheaded the movement against EU membership, now accepts EU membership. It has also managed to elect a majority of MEPs, in contrast to the Nationalist Party which was always in favour of EU membership and which is in Government.