Speaking for itself

The bill introduced by the government to make provision for the implementation of Malta's accession to the European Union deserves close scrutiny.

The first point to be made about the bill refers to an outstanding omission. It authorises the ratification of the treaty of accession signed in Athens on April 16, 2003. But the text of the treaty is not annexed to the bill. Hence, parliament is being asked to authorise the ratification of a treaty without being provided with the precise contents of the official text.

The second point to be made is also about the contents of what is being authorised to be ratified and made binding on Malta. This is not only the actual treaty which was signed on April 16, 2003, the accession treaty, but also any other treaty, agreement or protocol to which Malta became a party or which became applicable to Malta, in virtue of the accession treaty. No information about such treaties, agreements and protocols is being made available to parliament.

A third point about the contents of the matter subject to ratification is relevant. The bill provides that a treaty entered into by Malta after the accession treaty, which does not amend or substitute the treaty on European Union, is to be regarded as forming part of the accession treaty if the prime minister declares it to be so.

The fourth point in this context is that any international agreement entered into by the government after April 16, 2003 is said to be a treaty which the prime minister is empowered to declare to form part of the accession treaty.

The bill is not only about the ratification of the accession treaty and its being made binding on Malta. It also provides that future acts adopted by the European Union shall be binding on Malta under the conditions laid down in the accession treaty. Hence, parliament is being asked to accept as forming part of the laws of Malta "acts" adopted by the EU in future, without parliament having any knowledge of their contents. Nowhere in the bill is the expression "acts adopted by the European Union" defined.

The bill further provides that all obligations and restrictions "from time to time" created under the accession treaty shall be given legal effect and enforced in Malta.

According to the bill, the accession treaty and all existing and future acts adopted by the European Union shall be binding on Malta and shall be part of the laws of Malta, and where the laws of Malta are incompatible with them, the laws of Malta shall be without effect and unenforceable.

The bill specifically enjoins the courts in Malta to interpret the accession treaty in accordance with the principles laid down by the European Union Court of Justice. It even makes it mandatory on the courts in Malta, in deciding any matter, "to take judicial notice" of the treaty and to take judicial notice not only of the decisions of the EU Court of Justice, but also of any expression of opinion of that EU court.

For the purposes of making the provisions of the accession treaty and of existing and future acts adopted by the European Union binding in Malta, the prime minister is given power to create "by order" criminal offences which are punishable with less than two years imprisonment or with a fine of less than Lm10,000 (if not calculated on a daily basis) or with a fine of less than Lm100 a day.

The government has also felt the need to include in the bill an amendment to the constitution of Malta. The amendment in effect tends to qualify the nature of laws which parliament may make. At present, parliament may make laws for peace, order and good government of Malta. The bill proposes the laws made by parliament are also to be in conformity with obligations assumed by the Treaty of Accession to the European Union signed on April 16, 2003. The present constitutional provision does not prevent parliament from making laws in conformity with that treaty as long as the laws are for the peace, order and good government of Malta.

But with the proposed amendment, only those legislative enactments providing for the peace, order and good government of Malta which are in conformity with the obligations of the EU accession treaty may be made by the Maltese parliament. This constitutional amendment does not require a qualified majority of two-thirds of all the members of parliament.

The European Union accession bill speaks for itself. It does not feel the need to make references to colonial days.