Mr G. Towler (The Sunday Times, April 17) attacked the European Movement (Malta) on its comments regarding the European Constitution. His condescending references to our arguments on the Constitution are being ignored since his unimportance does not merit attention.
The European Movement (Malta) is pleased to note that what it had to say a week before Mr Towler's comments in this same newspaper had coincidentally also found resonance in a report carried in Christian Outlook, 'Another Thumbs up for the European Constitution', which underscored that the Commission of Bishops' Conferences of the 25 EU member states - a congregation of around a thousand bishops - fully backed the Draft Constitution.
The Draft European Constitution safeguards Malta's neutrality. Though some have missed the declaration on Malta's neutrality in the 50-odd declarations appended to the Constitution, it does not mean that its legal equivalent is not there.
Article IV-438 (3) states clearly that the declarations, including those made in the context of intergovernmental conferences (including the conferences on the accession of new member states) are preserved until they have been deleted or amended.
Care was taken to maintain legal continuity while repealing previous treaties. However, immaterial of this legal position, the European Constitution allows Malta to maintain its neutrality as defined in its Constitution. Once the European Constitution is approved, Malta should have fewer worries about the need of bilateral military guarantees to prop up its neutrality.
A new mutual defence clause permits Malta to request the help of fellow member states if this is required. This arrangement will strengthen the bilateral alliance we have with Italy at the moment by adding more EU member states who would be ready to help us in our hour of need.
And if in the future Italy may not feel comfortable with renewing the guarantees (which we do not augur of course) the EU guarantees Malta will enjoy will be just as credible - if not more.
The European Constitution maintains the principle that in the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Security and Defence Policy, decisions are taken by unanimity. A 'switch-over' clause makes it possible for the EU to begin deciding by qualified majority voting. But the 'switch over' can only take place if the member states consent to it unanimously.
Unanimity is a much stronger safeguard than a two-thirds majority found in our Constitution.
The crux of the matter is that, should Malta face EU decisions, which it deems to be contrary to its neutrality it can: a) block the consensus from forming; and b) abstain, in which case it will not be bound by the decisions and will not have to apply them.
Our neutrality is thus safeguarded - which can also be said of the other neutral EU states, namely Ireland, Austria, Sweden and Finland.
Malta can also indicate that for a 'vital' reason it will oppose a decision and in that case the member states may decide to refer the matter to the Government leaders meeting in council.
Sovereignty
When we refer to sovereignty we do not have in mind a mere abstract, legal or worse still a regal concept. On the other hand the European Movement (Malta) focuses on the sovereignty of the individual, the freedom that each one of us enjoys.
Does the Constitution protect more or less fundamental rights than our national constitutions and the European Human Rights Convention?
The answer is an unqualified "yes". We believe that the Constitution increases our rights without displacing our national constitutions and the European Convention. So that is another reason why we support it because it increases the rights of individuals.
We respect our national constitution
The European Movement (Malta) is proud of the Maltese Constitution. That is why we are happy that many people in all walks of life have taken a deep interest in the way in which the European Constitution relates to our national one.
The EU, a union of democratic states, allows its citizens to enjoy more not less freedoms because it encourages the pooling of resources to enable Europeans to better tackle common threats, such as environmental degradation, terrorism and the like.
When they speak together Europeans acquire a stronger voice in world affairs. This enables the EU to spread the values of the market economy, human freedom, the rule of law and other values, which are the prerequisites for lasting world peace.
By integrating their markets together, the EU member states have ensured greater economic efficiency than would otherwise have been the case. This means a wider choice of goods and services for ordinary Europeans and an improvement in the quality of life for a bigger segment of Europeans. That signifies more freedom not less.
The EU strengthens peace
Above all European unity has strengthened peace. True to our neutralist, pacifist vocation, we are not content with the mere thought that neutrality may protect Malta from the ravages of war.
We want our country to work with others to ensure that war is banished everywhere. Let states resolve their conflicts by peaceful means. The EU has a central role to play in that.
Federalism? What about it?
Many have bandied about a reference to federalism, as if this were some kind of bogey man. Europe is conniving to become a federal state, we are told! How can one describe federal states like Austria, Australia, Switzerland, Canada, the United States, India, Germany and Belgium, to mention a few, as more centralised political systems than, say, Britain? There is nothing more decentralised in the world than a federation.
If you tell our fellow Maltese brethren in Canada, Australia or the US that Europe is aiming to become a federal state, they would probably urge us on with greater enthusiasm.
Just look at how the federal system has led to greater autonomy to the 'nations' that make up Spain, the French-speaking citizens of Quebec in Canada or the Flemish and French-speaking communities of Belgium.
Italy is trying to decentralise the state by organising itself on a federal model.
When people make reference to 'federalism' in the same way as it is referred to in the 'gutter press' they are doing nothing else but playing on sentiments and ignorance.
The other canard is to say that this Constitution is a major step because it has to be ratified by all the member states! Wasn't that the case with all previous treaty reforms as well? Isn't that what happened in the case of the Single European Act, the Maastricht Treaty, the Amsterdam and Nice treaties?
Since the EU is a union of states and of peoples, any major revisions of its treaty or constitutional foundations will have to be approved by all the member states. This counts even after the Constitution comes into effect.
Not supreme
The European Constitution is not superior to the national constitutions in the same way as the US Constitution is superior to state constitutions, notwithstanding what has been said.
The European Constitution is only supreme in those areas where the member states have decided freely to exercise their competencies together as a Union.
When the European Constitution is eventually approved, no country will tear up its national constitution - assuming of course it has a written one to tear up. The European Constitution obliges the EU to respect national constitutions (Article I-5, 1).
There is no reason to get too hot under the collar about the fact that the European Constitution when ratified will replace the present treaties on which the EU is based. This Constitution was written precisely to do just that - to tidy up the many legal texts and synthesise them into a single document with improvements.
Did anyone expect the European Constitution to go into effect and at the same time maintain in place the current treaties?
Subsidiarity
On the principle of subsidiarity and proportionality, the European Constitution strengthens the principle of subsidiarity, namely that decisions are taken at the appropriate level.
Decisions will be transferred to the European level only in those areas where national, regional and local authorities cannot exercise them properly.
Some aspects of the same policy, say internal trade or the environment, are managed at the European level because of their scale while others are left to the national or sub-national authorities.
Often the member states agree on a common approach, which is then left to the national governments to implement in their countries. Subsidiarity already exists in the treaties as they are.
The Constitution strengthens the application of the principle by increasing the power of the national parliaments. If two-thirds of the national parliaments of the EU voice an opinion to the effect that a draft law does not conform to the principle of subsidiarity, then the draft must be re-examined.
Once an EU law has been passed, a national parliament may challenge that law before the Court of Justice if it thinks that a violation of the principle of subsidiarity has occurred.
The European Constitutional Treaty is not a constitution in the strict sense of the term. It is more of a treaty. It is not perfect either. But it is a valuable improvement over the present treaties and it is needed to make an EU of 25 member states - soon to be 27 and perhaps over 30 in the future - work more efficiently while strengthening our freedoms.
Some important parts of the Constitution
Article I-2 The Union is founded on the values of the respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.
Article I-5 the Union shall respect the equality of the member states before the Constitution as well as the national identities, inherent in the fundamental structures, political and constitutional, inclusive of regional and local self-government. It shall ensure essential state functions, including the territorial integrity of the state, maintaining law and order, and safeguarding national security.
Article I-6 The Constitution and law adopted by the institutions of the Union in exercising competences conferred on it (by the member states) shall have primacy over the law of the member states (note only in those areas conferred on the Union by the member states).
Article I-43 The Union and its member states shall act jointly in a spirit of solidarity if a member state is the object of a terrorist attack or the victim of a natural or man-made disaster (see also Article III-326 for the interpretation of solidarity).
Article I-41 (7) If a member state is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other member states shall have towards it an obligation of aid and assistance by all means in their power, in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter. This shall not prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain member states.
Article I-53 The Union respects and does not prejudice the status under national law of churches and religious associations or communities in the member states.
Article II-83 The Union shall respect cultural, religious and linguistic diversity.
Article III-220 ...the Union shall develop and pursue its action leading to the strengthening of its economic, social and territorial cohesion... Among the regions concerned particular attention shall be paid to rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition and regions which suffer from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, such as the northernmost regions with very low population density and island, cross-border and mountain regions.
Declaration 19 on Article III-220 (attached to the Constitution) The conference considers that reference in Article III-220 to island regions can include island states in their entirety, subject to the necessary criteria being made.