The benefits of membership

Three years ago Malta joined the European Union, along with nine other European states. To achieve this, we went through a decade of intense debate, which accelerated when the negotiations started and reached its peak with the 2003 referendum and general election.

The debate was a mixture of good sense and bad, fiction and non-fiction on all sides. However, few can deny that those against gave vent to such extreme negativism that many of the false prophecies they made then are now being uncovered for what they are.

They claimed that factories will have to shut down, unemployment would rocket, European workers would flood our labour market (strange to say of an economy which loses jobs), prices would increase, tourism would receive the kiss of death, the Maltese people would lose their identity, abortion and divorce would have to be introduced, and a thousand and one other mishaps would befall us.

This negative campaign started from the word go and was so intense that many people began to doubt the wisdom of joining the EU. There were other opponents of membership who took a subtler line: let us shelve the project for the time being until Malta becomes economically strong, and then we would join.

Little did they realise that Malta's economy was not performing to the optimum partly because of the restructuring process, partly because it was going through hard times and mostly because of the uncertainty they were pumping into it with great force. After all, economic activity, particularly investment, has to do with psychology nearly as much as it has with markets.

Today we can look back and focus the spotlight on the achievements of membership. Spring is here indeed, just to remind those cynics who never stopped reminding the yes campaigners of what was supposed to happen after membership but did not seem to be doing so.

Since membership, Malta has enhanced its credibility. Investment is increasing, private sector employment is expanding not contracting, price inflation is tamed, the government deficit is in decline and, within reasonable margins, the public debt as a percentage of GDP has shrunk and is on a downward slope.

Privatisation has proceeded steadily, the liberalisation of the market has taken place and the people are enjoying a wider choice of goods and services.

It is more than likely that shortly the EU Council will announce that Malta has satisfied all the requirements for joining the euro. Our currency will be replaced by a world currency with which you can go anywhere else in the world.

The Maltese have begun to tackle the environmental problems, bringing in the EU standards gradually that aim to improve our quality of life. We have not tackled and confronted all the environmental challenges and there are still problems that need to be taken by the horns.

But we cannot deny that we enjoy cleaner air and drinking water, cleaner bays, we have started the rehabilitation of waste dumps, recycling activity is picking up, energy saving and alternative sources are on our radar screen, and health and safety standards in the work place are slowly sinking their roots deeper among the work force.

Our young people can study overseas with greater ease and thus broaden their horizons. People are travelling more, despite the taxes on flights. Low-cost airlines have started operating to and from Malta, despite Government's initial hesitation, which cost us millions and our national airline still flies and thrives.

Foreign workers have not flooded our labour market but many Maltese have sought better prospects abroad not in distant Australia or north America but in neighbouring countries, two to three hours' flight time away from Gudja airport.

Malta has received a substantial amount of financial aid from the EU Structural Funds for the next seven years. The amount of €855 million is no joke and will certainly help us improve the country's infrastructure to make the economy work better.

Our island's security has also improved. We are not alone! Should trouble occur, our minds are at peace that 26 other EU member states are there to help us in the same way as we are ready to help them when they face difficulties.

Malta is also participating in building peace in Europe and in its adjacent neighbourhood. The peace of Europe is the reason of our prosperity. Let there be war in Europe (God forbid) and we can rest assured that even if the bombs do not hit us our welfare will decline.

We require lasting peace in the Mediterranean region as well, for the sake of the people who live on its shores and for our own good as well. The EU is a major factor of stability in the Mediterranean region and we form part of it. Malta has gained in effectiveness and prestige as a result of membership.

Malta is no longer a pariah, friend of the most recluse states in the world. Malta is a stable democracy, capable of making the right choices, a serious and trusted partner, a mature interlocutor, a country to do business with.

There is a lot that has still to be achieved on many fronts. But today is the time to focus on the achievements and not to stray into the sidelines. The prophets of doom and gloom, the warriors of Armageddon have been proved wrong. Freud spoke of the "death wish" or fear. There was plenty of that around prior to the referendum. Where is it now?

So let's look forward into the future and think about continuing to expand within the large space that membership has opened up for us. The party has only just begun and if we believe in ourselves as we have always done we will succeed.

The words of the false prophets, that we are small, fragile and incapable, needing continuous protection, is the swan song of the loser. It is not the battle cry for success.