The EU's success

Lino Cassar claims ("Too many cooks", August 10) that Ireland's economic success was solely due to a change in attitude of the political class in collaboration with other social partners and that the EU had no influence in shaping events. He also implies that Portugal, Sicily and Greece have not really benefited from EU membeship and still have their 'Maghtabs'.

His explanation for the Irish success is simplistic. Before Ireland joined the EU, there was a considerable amount of time in which the politicians could have changed their attitude, but they never did.

It is no coincidence that they did so after Ireland joined the EU. The truth is that in the last 25 years, backed by EU funds, successive Irish governments invested in education and in modernising the economy. Quite a few 'Maghtabs' were cleared before the Irish industrial engine began to run smoothly.

I fail to understand why Mr Cassar has picked on Portugal as an example of economic failure in the EU.

Apparently, this country is doing so well that it has become a mecca (one of many) for migrants from eastern Europe. People in search of work flock towards a thriving economy, where there are prospects of employment.

The Sicilian problem is not political but psychological. For centuries the people of Sicily and southern Italy in general suffered from maladministration.

Gladstone once called the Bourbon monarchy and its administration a 'political blasphemy'. It has been an uphill climb for the Italian government to radically change the mentality and attitude of the southerners.

In spite of what seemd to be an intractable problem, great strides have been made to ensure a better future for the region.

Today, the vast majority of Sicilian migrants who go to the north of Italy for work are university or technical college graduates: a far cry from the semi-literate labour force that migrated to the northern Italian industrial towns in the '60s and '70s.

No country that has joined the EU, including Greece, has failed to benefit from its association, hence the long list of countries wanting to join.

One could say that, from its early inception after World War Two, the EU has moved or stumbled from one success to another, ensuring in the process a free trade within the community guaranteed by political ties without which no free trade areas could endure, as history has amply demonstrated.

More important still, the EU has brought to an end the alarming number of major countries in Europe. The past 57 years have seen differences reduced to political squabbles.

Tony Blair, in a recent interview, declared that the EU has become a focus of attention for countries in Asia, Africa and South America who would like to form similar groupings in order to ensure a better future.

Malta would miss out on the EU benefits if it stayed out. At present there are a number of projects which are needed in the island and are beyond the capability of the Maltese exchequer. In the event of a serious financial crisis, Malta would have no one to automatically turn to.

One should consider the projects financed by the EU in areas of high unemployment in every country, including Britain; the road networks in Spain and Portugal; the payments of millions of pounds to British farmers as compenstation for the mad cow disease and foot and mouth outbreaks; and the various enterprises assisted by Europe to realise the disadvantage under which the Maltese economy would have to labour if the referendum vote is against joining the EU.