Malta has 'a very clear choice'

Malta has a very clear choice ahead: to join the EU or to remain in splendid isolation," Gunnar Wiegand, official spokesman for EU Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten, told The Sunday Times.

Mr Patten is the Commissioner Malta would have to deal with if it seeks closer ties, but not membership of the EU.

Asked whether Malta could have some form of partnership or close relations with the EU if it opts not to join, Mr Wiegand said: "Countries such as Switzerland have opted to stay out and have close ties. That means they have to assimilate all the EU internal market legislation. They have no choice but to accept what the EU says but have no say about it.

"It is a policy choice people have to make. You can decide to remain in splendid isolation. But does this make sense in a world where the economy is becoming increasingly integrated?

"How sovereign is it to do what others decide? Is it not better to join to be able to participate in the decions and shape the decisons that would affect you? This is what EU membership is about and I hope that our colleagues in the enlargement unit continue to do a good job so that Malta would be able to join the EU."

Mr Wiegand said it was a myth that smaller countries had little say in the EU. "On the contrary, smaller countries have a voice which is out of proportion to their size. Look at Luxembourg. Compare its influence to its size. Luxembourg is much smaller than France and Germany, but it has a strong voice and participates in all issues that affect it," he explained.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Gunther Verheugen said recently that the Malta Labour Party's proposal of developing an arrangement with the EU short of membership would mean Malta would have "less influence, less money, less jobs and less democracy".

Other EU commissioners, prime ministers and ministers from various European countries spoke on the same lines each time they expressed themselves about the issue.

Last month, former British Minister for Europe Peter Hain warned that Malta would get a worse deal if it did not join the EU now and asked to join in five or ten years' time.

"It is a make-or-break time for Malta and Europe and the opportunity has to be grasped because there is no easy second chance, if there is a second chance at all."

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean Claude Juncker, who visited Malta a few days before Mr Hain, said there would be no third chance for Malta to join the EU if the Maltese voted 'no' in next year's referendum.

"After suspending its application in 1996, there will no third time for Malta. This is not a game. This is a serious job for Malta and for Europe."