It was in Malta’s interest to remain at the heart of the European Union, Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil said today.

He was addressing an event at the university held to mark 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. 

Describing himself as a proud pro-Europe politician, he recalled the first time he was captivated by the European project on its 30th commemoration anniversary in Rome.

He said that the two simple but strong reasons as to why he was in favour of the EU were its fundamental principles and his love for Malta.

The principles of the EU, which had now become its universal values, were peace, democracy, pluralism, integrity, and diversity.

Dr Busuttil said that as a Nationalist, he wanted, first and foremost, the very best for Malta, and the EU brought the best out of the country. Eighty per cent of Maltese citizens believethe country had benefitted from accession.

The EU, he said, was already very much a federation even if some wanted to deny or contest this. Federalism actually meant unity and collaboration, he said.

He recalled the 14 long years it took Malta to negotiate its way to the EU saying this had not been a waste of time as it prepared Malta to make the case for Europe to other countries.

He urged everyone not to forget how difficult it was to win that debate, because the moment that happens is the moment we start taking everything for granted.

Brexit, he said, had given rise to questions about the nature of the EU itself.

On the priorities the EU should work upon, he said, was terrorism and it was time for the creation of European counter-terrorism agency.

Justice was another area of priority and although huge strides forward had been made, more needed to be done.

Malta, he said, ought to reconsider its position on the EU Public Prosecutor Office Initiative since this was about the fight against criminality and fraud.

The PN leader said that despite its economic might, the EU was still a political dwarf globally. He asked whether it made sense in the 21st century for 28 countries that had been living together for 60 years to have 28 different embassies scattered around the world.

A common foreign policy effort is a pressing need in today’s EU," he said.

Migration was another area on which Europe had to work more. The time had come for a common migration policy and Malta, the smallest EU nation, has been one of the pioneers steering such a policy.

Malta, he said, stood to gain from a strong EU and if it had not yet been successful at convincing the EU on its particular needs, it had to start doing so now.

It made sense for Malta to have a different taxation policy given the small population and lack of land access to the mainland, which meant extra costs in trade.

The state aid to Air Malta was another case where the EU needed to respect diversity. Natural land barriers meant that it was in Malta’s interest to have a national airline that guaranteed connectivity without having to rely on the service of private companies. 

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