Editorial

Opinion polls on whether Malta should join the European Union or not indicate a marked preference for membership. This preference has grown over time and one hopes that in the remaining weeks before the referendum those who are as yet undecided would come to understand the importance of membership to the national interest.

The national interest is in fact what the people ought to keep in mind when casting their vote. A general opinion poll showing preference for membership was that carried out for The Sunday Times. It shows that of those who have already made up their minds about how they would vote, those intending voting yes outnumber those intending voting no by more than two to one.

A relative majority of 47.7 per cent of the 300 people interviewed for the opinion poll would vote yes; 22.3 per cent would not vote in favour, while six per cent would not tell how they would vote. The poll shows that a good number of people are still undecided about how they will vote. This means that there is still time on the part of the pro-EU membership lobby to try to convince them that the road to Europe is the best one for the island to take if it wants to move ahead in peace and security and if it wants to share in new opportunities for development.

Most encouraging are the surveys carried out by the Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Industry and that by Deloitte & Touche for the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association.

The chamber survey shows that over 91 per cent of respondents have endorsed membership as negotiated by the government. Fifty-six per cent of respondents said the membership package would affect their business positively, 34 per cent that it would have a neutral effect and only 10 per cent believed the package could have a negative effect on their operations.

The chamber's survey is most significant, particularly when considered together with that of the Federation of Industry, which showed that the majority of members were in favour, with only 13.8 per cent considering it as being harmful to their business.

The survey commissioned by the MHRA showed that of the members who had decided on the issue, 90 per cent said they were in favour of membership. Another important result is that 66 per cent of participating restaurants are in favour of accession.

So, contrary to the impression many of those who are against membership give, business and industry in Malta are generally in favour of seeing the island join the EU. They know best what is good for business, manufacturing and hotel industries, and in the light of the opinion polls carried out so far, the anti-EU people have no leg to stand on in this respect.

Small firms catering mainly for the local market had been aware of plans for the liberalisation of the local market and those smart enough to take serious heed of this, took action to restructure their operations and to branch out into export trade. Of course, this is not as easy as it sounds, and some of these firms may be hit in the process.

But if, through the right assistance, these firms manage to make it, as no doubt many will through their determination to succeed, their future will be brighter.