Family, work and religion are the values Maltese cherish the most in order of preference, an unpublished European survey shows.

When it comes to priorities for a successful marriage, respondents named fidelity, discussing problems and sexual relations as the three most important values.

Family expert Angela Abela from the National Family Commission gave a preview of the local results for the European Values Survey.

She was one of four speakers during a discussion forum about Maltese identity. The forum was the first of its kind organised by President George Abela to be held annually on topics relevant to Maltese society.

Dr Angela Abela shot down claims that marriage was no longer strong in Malta – saying there had been little change in the separation rate over the past five years.

Marriage was now facing the divorce debate. A referendum will be held next month so people can vote for or against the introduction of “responsible divorce”.

Until then, two vociferous campaigns have been going on by pro and anti-divorce lobby groups.

“Unfortunately the divorce debate has been reduced to a polarised debate,” she said, adding this was confusing people.

At the end of the month, the commission will be releasing the results of a study on whether married couples would remarry and why.

“The Maltese family has changed and the reality is that it will not return to the way it was,” Dr Abela said. She added that women wanted to pursue a career and often did not have a choice but to work to be able to cope financially.

Couples were marrying later and the birth rate had dropped. Families needed support if Maltese family values were to be upheld, she said.