The art of renegotiation

One would have thought that the referendum and the general election of 2003 would have closed the discussion on whether Malta should have joined the European Union or otherwise. Malta's membership was subject to long negotiations that started in 1998, when the Nationalist government reactivated our application. The Accession Treaty brought these talks to an end.

The majority of the Maltese population voted twice to give their consent to this treaty. Without going into the merits of whether or not the treaty was in fact a good deal, undoubtedly it was the basis for these islands to develop. The treaty is not only a legal document between a state and an international organisation but it is a democratic instrument to which the majority of the people have given their consent. The minority could be against it or against parts of it but the majority did give its democratic seal.

Surprisingly, the issue was reopened in the beginning of this electoral campaign when Labour leader Alfred Sant declared that if he is voted into power he would reopen negotiations with the EU. It was not a slip of the tongue or a quote out of context, because Dr Sant repeated the declaration and George Vella stood up and supported it. Therefore, Labour have once again reopened the EU membership issue.

Barely five years after the referendum and the last general election, such declarations are a sign of great disrespect for the very people whose votes they are wooing. The very idea of renegotiating with the EU is madness, to say the least. The Sunday Times quoted EU officials saying that Dr Sant's proposal is not feasible because the treaty is a done deal.

Let's close our eyes and imagine that Dr Sant is Prime Minister and travels to Brussels to renegotiate the Accession Treaty and the EU accepts to discuss the matter. Do you for a minute think that Dr Sant will dictate the agenda? Don't you think the EU will say that, if the package is to be renegotiated, then everything will have to be renegotiated, including the 76 arrangements listed in the treaty, such as the fact that Gozo is to be dealt with as a separate region for statistical purposes, that the government in the first seven years of membership may make unilateral restrictions on the influx of workers, that Malta will be considered favourably for funding? With Dr Sant renegotiating these and other clauses are we not risking losing out on what Malta has managed to achieve so far?

The irony is that Dr Sant is proposing to renegotiate now, when the EU has changed drastically since 2003. First and foremost, when Malta was in the negotiation process, prior to 2003, it was dealing with 15 countries, now the membership has increased to 27. If my maths does not fail me, this would mean that Dr Sant would have to negotiate with 26 countries, including those that joined together with us and two others that joined later.

The T-shirts and the sing-alongs might have changed but Labour is still the party of partnership and Switzerland in the Mediterranean. Labour have failed the Maltese people by merely bringing up the subject of renegotiation. I shudder to think how they will turn everything upside down if they are ever given the responsibility of government. Here again the voters have a choice between two very different positions.

It is the Nationalist Party that is consistently consistent and realistic. Don't play with your lives and your future by listening to their crazy and irresponsible notions. Labour may have caught your attention but they should not have caught your vote.

Dr Mifsud is president of the College of Councillors of the Nationalist Party and a candidate on the first district.