The decade that has just ended (the noughties) has been quite eventful for Malta. In 2000, the Nationalist government's efforts were mainly geared towards Malta's accession to the European Union.
These efforts were hampered by the Labour opposition's unremitting hostility to EU membership. Incredibly, this hostility continued even after a majority of 53.5 per cent said Yes to Europe in a hard-fought referendum in which 91 per cent of the electorate voted.
Labour bowed to the inevitable only after Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami called a snap general election the day after the referendum result, ensuring another Nationalist victory in April 2003; four days later, Dr Fenech Adami signed the treaty of accession in Athens.
Ratification came on May 1, 2004, but this time it was Lawrence Gonzi - Dr Fenech Adami's successor - who signed on Malta's behalf. The Nationalist Party, incidentally, retained power throughout this decade.
Today, bar for a small minority, EU membership is no longer an issue - least of all for the Labour Party, which ironically scored resounding victories in the two elections for the European Parliament held so far.
Malta's EU membership has boosted trade, created an unprecedented range of opportunities in employment, education, cultural exchanges and training programmes, obliged the Maltese government to abide by European rules regarding the environment, competition, State intervention in the economy and other sectors and, most importantly, initiated a gradual culture change in the average Maltese mentality, which now sees Malta as no longer an "island" but as an integral part of Europe.
Freedom of movement has been extended through Malta's joining the Schengen Area, while the adoption of the euro in 2008 integrated the island even more closely with Europe.
Despite fears that it would fuel inflation, the euro has undoubtedly been a boon to Malta's trade and tourism.
Naturally, EU membership gives Malta obligations besides rights and advantages. But it has also meant a measure of - admittedly limited - solidarity with Malta in helping it deal with illegal immigration, an issue which has come to dominate local politics. The EU's decision to locate the European Asylum Office in Malta is recognition of the island's plight in this respect.
With arrivals peaking at around 3,000 in one year, straining Malta's resources to the limit, illegal immigration fuelled xenophobic sentiments, prejudice and racist rhetoric as never before. Malta's detention policy also came in for some stick from international bodies such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Médécins sans Frontiéres, who also criticised conditions in the detention centres.
Italo-Maltese relations were strained when the island was accused of not fulfilling its responsibilities for allegedly failing to provide assistance or bring ashore migrants in distress. The hard-pressed Armed Forces disproved this claim time and again.
The problem now thankfully seems to have been mitigated somewhat, following Italy's agreement with Libya last year (thanks to Italian largesse amounting to billions of euro), finally prompting Malta's southern neighbour to stem the immigration flow.
The decade has ended with Malta still under the shadow of the international recession which we have actually weathered much better than some other EU countries. But we have not been completely unscathed: the economy has contracted, unemployment has risen and the deficit and national debt have grown.
More gloom is in store as domestic, industrial and commercial consumers brace themselves for higher water and electricity rates effective from New Year's Day.
Malta has had its ups and downs in the 2000-2009 period (thankfully, international terrorism, which dominated this decade, has spared us); the island has advanced in various sectors, although in others - resulting in marriage and family breakdowns, teenage pregnancies, drug abuse, domestic violence, gambling and alcoholism - the picture is much bleaker than it was 10 years ago.
And in an increasingly secularised Maltese society, this decade will be remembered for the canonisation of the first Maltese saint in the person of Dun Ġorġ Preca in 2007, following his beatification (along with those of two other Maltese) during Pope John Paul II's second visit to the island in 2001.
May the new decade (the teenies) bring more ups than downs.