Ten years is a short time in the life of a nation but it is long enough to judge whether the people would have made the right choice in deciding to join a political and economic bloc that could bring such major changes in their way of life. Malta took such a momentous decision in 2004 when it joined the European Union with some trepidation but with courageous foresight.
The past decade of EU membership has largely been a positive experience for this tiny island.
The very fact that Malta had to undergo a programme of structural legal and economic changes has helped to upgrade the governance of the country. The great majority of Maltese felt that the pain of change was worth enduring as it would help the country converge with other leading EU member states in the quality of life they offered to their citizens.
Perhaps the greatest achievement of the last 10 years is that now there is a broad political consensus that the future of Malta will continue to be built on EU membership. The EU has thankfully imposed environmental standards that governments would probably have been reluctant to bother with. Membership has provided work and study opportunities for thousands and helped us embellish our heritage monuments in no small way.
One lesson that is still being learnt is that the EU is no Utopia. Unless it keeps renewing itself it will not be able to offer a bright future to its citizens.
The economic crisis that started in 2007 has shown how the fiscal and monetary governance of the EU needs to be revamped to ensure that economic growth is not threatened by an unstable basis for the euro. This is still work in progress as the reforms undertaken so far are not deep enough to guarantee economic stability and growth for the next decade and beyond.
When Malta adopted the euro in 2008, it made a solemn commitment to abide by strict fiscal and monetary policy guidelines that were not always easy to follow. The threat of financial sanctions has helped the country’s political leaders to instil much-needed discipline in economic governance.
Progress has been made as the fiscal deficit and also the level of the national debt is now at the top of the agenda of the country’s political leaders.
But daunting challenges need to be addressed in the coming decade.
The forthcoming European Parliament elections are likely to show strong evidence of the frustration of many Europeans with their political leaders who they feel are not delivering the economic growth necessary for job creation and for improving the quality of life of ordinary people.
Extreme fringe parties in some countries may get better results than traditional ones, even if they have no real solutions to promote stronger economic growth and prosperity. It is not inconceivable that some member states may insist on a looser EU where federalist policies devolve power from Brussels to national governments.
Inevitably, Malta’s economic destiny will, to a large extent, continue to be dictated by events that happen in other EU countries on which we have little control. Major policy changes on taxation, for example, may have serious implications on our own economic model.
What the Labour government must learn from its predecessor is that teamwork in a 28-nation bloc is essential. We can continue succeeding the way we did in the past 10 years.