About 18 months before we joined the European Union in 2004 I formed part of a delegation of the Chamber of Commerce and Federation of Industry visiting Brussels.

We need a change of government- George Zammit, Mosta

There they explained to us how the EU works and how much control they exercise on member states. Of course, we were impressed because we thought this is exactly what Malta needed – control of government spending.

But have things turned out how the various EU officials insisted they would, since we joined the EU? I do not think so. And not only in Malta, either. Look at Ireland, Greece, France, Italy and Cyprus too. In Malta we have nothing to boast about, because since we joined in 2004 our nation’s debt has risen tremendously. It now transpires that European Union officials can be easily fooled – look at Greece.

My opinion is that the hundreds (if not thousands) of EU officials are only concerned with their own well-being.

The threatening declarations by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi regarding Europe and the euro are definite signs that the EU is sick. Prime Minister David Cameron too is not so sure about Britain’s EU membership. It is now being bandied about that with the financial situation in France in the doldrums, the euro may not last long.

I believe that the reason the EU is no longer a success story is that it encourages governments to spend and spend. To maintain all this spending governments are piling up taxes on their citizens, who in turn seek more income, giving rise to higher inflation which makes life for low-income earners a misery. No wonder the proportion of families at the risk of poverty continues to rise and rise.

Maintaining an army of Maltese officials in Brussels and Strasbourg is costing our country a fortune every year and control of their spending is very lacking. Our Government has over the years disregarded our spiralling national debt and embarked on huge projects without considering whether we can afford them.

We need a change of government and a change in the way taxes on the people’s hard-earned money is spent. We Maltese can live modestly and save.