Editorial

Who would have thought - on July 16, 1990, when Malta presented its application to join what was then known as the European Community - that by today the island would be not just a fully fledged member of the EU, but also have changed currency and joined the section of Europe that is borderless?

Probably no one, since the latter two aspects of the Union were little more than an unlikely theory back then. But although Eddie Fenech Adami and Guido de Marco - in tandem the driving force in the realisation of Malta's European destiny - were not in a position to visualise where we are today, they could see far enough ahead to be convinced that that was where the island's future must lie.

After the Nationalist Party's election defeat in1996, the easier option would have been to give it up. But instead they came back stronger, never wavering in their cause to persuade the people. Right to the bitter end, the Labour Party opposed the move. But perserverance eventually paid off and in 2003 Malta finally reached the most important checkpoint on its European journey.

It is easy today to look back and think this was inevitable. In actual fact, it was anything but. It happened because through thick and thin they stayed the course with a display of remarkable stamina and because they possessed that rarer and more important quality in the political world: vision.

Lawrence Gonzi may have inherited that legacy in 2004, but the European jigsaw was far from complete. In his quest to add more important pieces, a great deal of perspiration was required. That he would provide that was never in doubt. But he has managed to throw in a good dose of inspiration too.

Joining the euro was not an issue of 'if' - since it was a condition contained within the Accession Treaty - but it was most certainly an issue of 'when'. And the Prime Minister, with a marvellous sense of judgment, decided that that should be now. Changing a nation's currency was never going to be implemented without a hiccup here and there, but thanks to the sterling work of the National Euro Changeover Committee and the ability of Parliamentary Secretary Tonio Fenech, it has so far been smooth compared with the experiences of other countries.

It is therefore all the more unfortunate that Alfred Sant's voluntary and welcome re-entry into the political arena after surgery - in his column in The Times last Wednesday - was marked by a reiteration of a tired tune in his repertoire: that Malta did not join the euro at the "optimum point". All the indicators, not for the first time after he has made a discordant statement, point in the opposite direction.

It is not so much the detail of the repeated statement that should embed itself in the minds of the electorate, but the mentality which forms it. Over and over again, the Labour leader has made a bad call when it matters - most notably on the issue of EU membership. And there is no evidence, yet, to suggest he has learnt the error of his ways.

Although Malta has come a long way since 1990, there is still a considerable distance to go if we are to fulfill our European potential. We can only achieve this with visionaries, rather than doomsayers, at the helm.