Editorial

This is a week of anniversaries - today is the 65th anniversary of the award of the George Cross to Malta - a signal award never before, or since, given to an entire people, to honour the bravery and resilience of the Maltese, then under constant attack by Axis forces. Malta can truly be proud of its major contribution to the defeat of Nazism and Fascism, and the George Cross on our flag is the symbol of that pride.

Another anniversary falls on Thursday - it is two years since the election of the Bavarian-born Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to succeed John Paul II, the third longest-serving Pontiff, taking the name of Benedict XVI. As it happens, His Holiness tomorrow celebrates his 80th birthday, and we join the rest of the Catholic world and all people of goodwill in wishing him ad multos annos.

But another important anniversary falls tomorrow - four years ago, Malta's Prime Minister (now President) Eddie Fenech Adami, accompanied by Foreign Minister (now EU Commissioner) Joe Borg, signed Malta's treaty of accession to the European Union in a memorable ceremony in Athens.

Malta's signature to that treaty was still in doubt only a few days before. It had to be the Nationalist victory in the general election of April 12, 2003, to decide the issue once and for all. Dr Fenech Adami had called that election since the Leader of the Opposition, Dr Alfred Sant, refused to acknowledge the result of the referendum, held only a few weeks earlier, in which 53.5 per cent of the electorate voted for EU membership.

Most political observers now believe that Dr Sant's obstinate refusal to acknowledge the Yes victory in the referendum may have cost the Labour Party the general election, since there is no doubt that the Nationalists swept to victory in 2003 primarily on the strength of the majority of the people's determination that Malta should join the EU. Only after his defeat did Dr Sant acknowledge that the majority, indeed, wanted Malta in the EU.

Four years on, it is an opportune time to assess the performance of the Nationalist government, which, in the first year, was led by Dr Fenech Adami, who then resigned on reaching his 70th birthday in 2004, to be succeeded by Dr Lawrence Gonzi. We could also assess Malta's performance as a member of the European Union for the past three years.

With the all-important objective of taking Malta into the European Union out of the way - and hopefully out of the arena of political debate, which it had occupied so forcefully for a good 15 years at least - the Maltese government could concentrate on other pressing issues, not unconnected with making a success of the newly acquired EU membership.

The next objective was the adoption by Malta of the euro, the single European currency which 12 EU states had adopted in 2002, replacing the respective national currencies. Dr Gonzi's administration made Eurozone membership, and the achievement of the stringent criteria on which it depended, one of its main priorities.

The effort has paid off, since Malta is expected to adopt the euro on target - on January 1 next year. The fact that Malta has passed the euro test means that it has managed to put its public finances and its economy on a sound footing, since to do that it had to trim its deficit to below three per cent of GDP, keep inflation and unemployment under control, while achieving economic growth (Malta had one of the highest rates of GDP growth in the EU last year), and rein in public debt (which though still higher than the Maastricht criterion of 60 per cent of GDP, is being brought down gradually) - all laudable and very positive objectives in their own right.

These objectives have been reached thanks to a mix of privatisation, retrenchment, fiscal incentives, measures designed to increase productivity, ending the financial haemorrhage represented by the shipyards, and a gradually growing economy, with prospects of a faster rate of growth. An inflow of €855 million in EU funding over the next seven years should also contribute to steady economic growth.

Hundreds of millions of liri have come or are coming our way in the form of new foreign investment - for example, only last week Lufthansa Technik Malta announced a €55 million expansion creating 550 jobs, while the SmartCity project, with an investment from Dubai totalling Lm110 million, should create some 5,600 jobs over a ten-year span.

With a welcome recovery in tourism, and signs of increased economic activity, especially in the services sector, the economy should continue to expand. Judged on this score alone, therefore, the present four-year-old administration can be deemed a success.