A gym membership does not guarantee fitness, just as joining the EU 10 years ago has not solved all Malta’s problems, according to an independent think tank’s report.
The analogy was made in a discussion paper documenting Malta’s decade as an EU member State released yesterday by The Today Public Policy Institute.
The report, Malta’s EU story argued that although Malta experienced “an incremental and fairly smooth evolution”, the EU was no guarantee things could not go wrong.
“Just as a gym membership does not make you fit, so EU membership has not solved all our problems. But it has provided us with a setting where, if we take the right decisions and work hard enough, success is more likely, and progress can be faster,” lead author Patrick Tabone, former head of Cabinet for European Commissioner Joe Borg, said.
We are far less insular, more open and less resistant to change than just 10 years ago
The report is not an academic study but is based on information and opinions obtained through interviews, including with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and former prime ministers Eddie Fenech Adami, Alfred Sant and Lawrence Gonzi.
Mr Tabone said the report aimed to provide “a broad brush strokes account” of how Malta changed since joining the EU in 2004.
“The result is – and this is a positive conclusion shared by all those interviewed – that as a people we are far less insular, far more open and less resistant to change than we were just 10 years ago,” Mr Tabone said.
The most significant changes were seen in how the economy was restructured as State subsidies, protectionist barriers to trade and monopolies were gradually dismantled to allow an open, competitive environment.
Changes made the economy more resilient but the onus of success was the ability of Maltese policymakers to tap niche markets and make good use of EU funds.
Between 2004 and 2013, more than €237 million in EU funds was invested in human capital, including school infrastructure, scholarships, training aid schemes and assistance to encourage disadvantaged groups find work.
Mr Tabone said improvements were also registered in the environmental and agricultural sectors, where EU membership attracted more attention and funds than at any time in Malta’s history.
EU-funded environment projects between 2004 and 2013 attracted some €147 million but, despite the significant investment, Mr Tabone noted, membership did little to mitigate the country’s most pressing environmental challenge: land use.
The major environmental improvements made as a result of membership would stand for little if development continued to encroach on “those few special spaces”, he added.
“If we insist on further encroaching on our rural spaces – ironically enough, now also in the name of agritourism – then the EU will not be able to save us from ourselves,” Mr Tabone said.
The report also highlighted the challenges ahead as an EU member.
Eurozone troubles, the EU’s institutional paralysis and growing scepticism about Europe’s ability to solve problems are the principle challenges the island faces.
On the domestic front, Malta will face the prospect of being a net contributor of funds rather than a net beneficiary after 2020.
Mr Tabone argued funding would be one area where the island would need the support of its partners in future budget negotiations.
Immigration will remain a headache, as will the difficulty to convince EU partners of the argument to share the responsibility for people who land in Malta.
But he insisted there would be a glimmer of hope if Malta was “sensitive to the reservations of its partners, creative enough in coming up with acceptable solutions and assiduous enough in building the necessary alliances”.
Facts and figures
10.8% of first degree students or higher were studying in other EU countries in 2012
964 Maltese are employed with the EU institutions
€1 billion in EU funds came Malta’s way between 2004 and 2012