In a few hours’ time, thousands will gather at our magnificent Grand Harbour to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Malta’s EU entry. They will be people from all walks of life, with different beliefs and lifestyles and from all parts of our archipelago. But they will have one thing in common. They will all be proud to be Maltese and European.

After the 2003 election, the party I lead today declared that it would respect the people’s verdict on Europe. And we did just that, without falter and with complete loyalty to our country and its interests. Partisan politics were put aside and representatives of both parties in European institutions, myself included, did their utmost to reap the benefits from the new European reality.

Today, as Prime Minister, I wish to add to the declaration made by my party in Opposition a decade ago. Back then we accepted the verdict because we respected the will of the people. It’s true to say that, at the time, it wasn’t easy for everyone to go as far as embracing the verdict. Today, my government not only embraces the European Union but is determined to prove itself a vibrant, forward-looking participant, at the forefront of a more social Europe – a European Union that is closer to the people.

Europe now is about our future, not our past.

So what is this future and what does it hold for us as the only small island State in it? The answer lies in a place which is deeper than the daily headlines, the show-stopping summits and the machinations of EU governance.

Europe is not a place or even a set of institutions. It is an ethos, a particular way of looking at issues and life itself, an idea steeped in the tumultuous history of a continent. Its real essence is not found so much in the EU’s directives, body of legislation and structures. It lies in the particular way all of us Europeans frame political, social and economic issues and decisions for the benefit of the millions who form part of it.

Europe now is about our future, not our past

Our continent’s bedrock idea is that the individual is crucial to a nation’s success and the only measure of it. The State, the economy and democracy itself can flourish only if the individual exercises as much liberty as possible to shape his or her own destiny and path to happiness. Herein lies the beating heart of Europe and our future in it. Indeed, many of the measures taken by my government have not been so much ‘liberal’ as European.

In addition, the EU is not some static entity, frozen in time and it can never be so. The European Union we joined a decade ago is not the one we live in today. It will certainly not be the one we shall preside over during our presidency in 2017 and beyond. This should not surprise us.

Europe changes because it is the embodiment of change. Its strength always emanated from this ability to renew itself. It is a strength which in our globalised world is becoming increasingly valuable.

In this light, I strongly believe that Europe’s future and our place in it lies in making our continent more open, more connected to the world around us in every sense: in commerce, communications, politics, so­ciety and culture.

Essentially, a new Europe has evolved since World War II to overhaul the archaic notion of national borders, transforming what were historically warring fortresses into sovereign states peacefully sharing a common political and economic destiny. We now need to take the same step on a global level. After a revision of national borders we should start to think seriously about the validity of continental ones.

It is fitting that we should gather at Grand Harbour. Over the centuries, it has played an important part in repelling the enemy. Ten years ago, it was where we welcomed Europe. Tonight, it will be where we celebrate our continuing journey with self-confidence, determination and optimism.

Congratulate yourself. You deserve it.

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