Towards the end of his ‘Down with the new year’ article (The Sunday Times of Malta, January 5), Mark Anthony Falzon asserts that “euroscepticism is [so] absent in Malta”, and that this is because, inter alia, “we are now a poplu magħqud in [an] unshakeable conviction that the EU is good, better and best”. This is an assessment that simply does not pass the test of reality.

Reality is different and requires an acceptance of a totally different assessment model. One which simply does not have anything to do with “poplu magħqud” or otherwise.

It is that based on a particular opinion market segmentation assessment or, at least, appreciation. The reality vis-à-vis stances towards the EU in Malta is that these are structured in the following four-sector format:

In category one, there is that group of Maltese who elsewhere I have, long ago, dubbed as the eurodrugged. It consists of all those who are not able to see the EU as it really is (including historically) warts and all. For these, nothing wrong can come from the EU and it is the epitome of this country’s salvation in every walk of life, not the least economic. Many young, starry-eyed university students are usually among the most prone to be bitten by this type of sickness.

In the second category, we have many Maltese who can only be described as euro pragmatists. They are those who hold that in today’s realpolitik, it is inescapable that a country must form part of a clearly defined and functional bloc. Plus that we simply need the money, so might as well. To which I would probably add the late Agnelli’s wise dictum that “se l’Unione Europea non ci fosse, bisognerebbe inventarla” (had the EU not been there, it would have been necessary to create it). Pragmatists see the wise inevitability of being part of the EU.

Then, contrary to what Falzon states, we effectively also have in Malta our own brand of eurosceptics. They are the people who shudder at, and even condemn, much of what is done/or how it is done in or by the EU; but, given that their nemeses, the UK and/or Italy, are still in it, then we can afford to be in it, but should still criticise it all the way. But, like many Britons, they will still talk of ‘leaving if it suits us’.

And then we have the last segment of our EU public opinion market, which is the total anti-EU brigade (platoon would probably be a better word).

These are generally elderly people for whom the words EU only still bring to their convoluted reasoning things like “It’s them who bombed us during the wars, never gave Maltese due promotions in the Navy or Air Force, and who simply snobbishly hate us for insisting on migrant burden-sharing”.

So there we are. This model of factual, current, popular, Maltese attitudes towards the European Union is not only much more reflective of reality, but also shows that the situation is much much more complicated than a sweeping ‘There are no eurosceptics in Malta’.