The last week of March was a momentous week for every European citizen. While in one corner of Europe, Britain was signing the letter to formally depart the Union, in another corner the most influential leaders and policymakers in Europe were gathering to secure the future of the EU. That gathering was the EPP Congress taking place in Malta.
The European People’s Party is Europe’s biggest political family, to which historic and current EU leaders such as Angela Merkel, Donald Tusk, Robert Schuman and Alcide de Gasperi belong. It is also the political family of the Partit Nazzjonalista and the choice to hold its biannual congress here at such a delicate time for the EU shows the faith that the EPP has in its Maltese member.
The EPP Congress was the biggest political event to take place during the Maltese presidency of the EU, and it was a privilege to host more than 1,500 participants including heads of state, MEPs and top officials from EU institutions, not to mention the hundreds of journalists who were here to cover the event.
This event put not just the Partit Nazzjonalista, but all of Malta at the centre of discussion on the future of Europe.
Thirteen years of membership have shown that, as the PN has rightly envisioned since Independence, the EU is Malta’s natural home. It is today obvious to everyone that the country has benefitted greatly from accession. What is often overlooked, however, is Malta’s own contribution to the Community. Malta has quickly matured into a respected player capable of driving policy and action.
Thirteen years of membership have shown that the EU is Malta’s natural home
As it carefully takes the next step forward, the EU looks to our country for hope and confidence. Malta is a bright example of how membership can transform societies in the 21st century. As Simon Busuttil recently observed, by forming part of the EU’s grandest initiatives such as the eurozone and the Schengen Area, Malta is at the very heart of the European project.
The EPP Congress saw a healthy debate about concrete ways to renew the EU in order to reflect the needs and aspirations of people in the long term. A fundamental point of every perspective was that the EU has to change, particularly at citizen level. Europeans demand that the values that built the Union and hold it together inspire real solutions to problems that opportunistic populists are preying upon.
The EU is a success and it will continue to be so. There is, within the EPP, political vision and resolve to overcome the challenges that give rise to Euroscepticism. The congress pointed towards an EU that integrates people’s wellbeing and growth policies more closely.
This approach makes Malta’s place in the discussion even more significant. Thanks in part to our membership in the EU, our country has shown resilience even when our neighbours were going through the roughest patch of the financial crisis. Our achievements send a powerful message to the rest of the Community.
Malta can push Europe into a better and more meaningful Union. In order to accomplish that, we need a credible government that truly understands the core European values of transparency, accountability, freedom, solidarity and the rule of law. Europe itself needs a Maltese government that reflects these basic principles and that builds its policies, not its slogans, upon them.
The EPP Congress showed the Partit Nazzjonalista at its best: the presence of prominent leaders demonstrates the respect that the party enjoys in Europe. Manfred Weber, Antonio Tajani and Antonio López-Istúriz White were among the many who publicly praised Busuttil for his proactive and no-nonsense style of politics.
Now that the congress is over, the participants will set out to implement the EPP vision for a stronger and more relevant European Union in their respective countries. For us in Malta to do that, the next opportunity is the upcoming general election.
The PN is building an ambitious political programme that proposes a radical leap in the quality of life for all. Our country and the rest of Europe deserve a government that brings out the best in Malta and that will once again make us proud to be Maltese.
Rosette Thake is the secretary general of the Nationalist Party.