I have always maintained that whenever Dr Simon Busuttil or any MIC official speaks, writes or broadcasts any of the so-called `information` about EU membership, such as that "the EU has no law or directive on...", or that "the EU does not get involved in the social security sector...", etc., they should always end what they are saying, writing or broadcasting, with the words "up to now"!

The reason for this is quite simple and very obvious. Many, if not most, of the present EU laws and directives did not exist in the EEC, EC and now EU at some time or other. Take, for example, the question of the veto, the right of any member state to block any EU decision, law or directive, if it seriously considers that such a law or directive would go against its vital interest.

When the European Economic Community was set up in 1957, each of the six founding member states had the right of veto on the majority of areas contained in the Treaty of Rome. Today the right of veto remains on only a few sectors. At the latest Intergovernmental Conference in Nice, around 34 other areas, previously subject to unanimity, were abolished and will now be decided by Qualified Majority Vote.

But Dr Busuttil and MIC officials insist that they are only giving EU "information". Yes, EU information, but not all of it. And when that happens that "information" becomes EU propaganda!

Many existing EU laws and directives originate from EU political elite or some lobby group working behind the scenes - of which there are hundreds if not thousands in Brussels - who put forward their proposals.

It is well known that multinationals (as confirmed by the Rev. Professor Peter Serracino Inglott in his public debate recently) have enormous influence and are known to put great pressure on the EU Commission and MEPs to push their agenda.

After a proposal has been made, lobbying starts with influential bureaucrats and other lobby groups to gain more support for their proposal. At some stage the proposal comes before the Commission, which, in turn, may refer it to the EU Parliament for its opinion. The Commission then refers the proposal to the Council of Ministers, which has the last say.

Once the Council agrees with the Commission`s recommendation, a new EU law or directive comes into being. And what had not existed up to the time the proposal was approved by the Council, starts to exist!

We rarely read or hear MIC officials speak or write about this. The latest example is the announcement at the EU summit in Barcelona, that the leaders of the 15 EU member states - who also form the EU Council of Ministers - had agreed to gradually raise the retiring age by five years, by 2010.

Locally, although the PN government said next to nothing about it, even though the Prime Minister and his Foreign Minister were present, the news caused quite a stir among those nearing retiring age in Malta (61 for males and 60 for females). This can turn out to be a big political tremor at least, or an earthquake at most, to the hopes of the PN government and its pro-EU membership `allies` come election time.

Perhaps it was this thought which prompted Dr Busuttil to hold an "information session" which has been reported extensively under the banner heading: "Will EU membership affect pensions?"

Yet again, Dr Busuttil stated that the EU does not decide "on these issues", including pensions, but leaves them to national governments. He was further reported to have said that for the EU to take decisions in the area of social security, the unanimous approval of all EU countries is required.

In my view, Dr Busuttil was only trying to pour oil on troubled waters. He knows that at Barcelona, EU leaders had finally unanimously agreed to raise the retiring age. Although Dr Busuttil stated that "so far this is only a political declaration and not a law that binds EU governments", once the 15 member states (their governments, not their peoples, mind you!) have agreed to the proposal which the EU Commission has been insisting on, how long will it be before that "political declaration" becomes a political diktat?

Somehow I suspect that Dr Busuttil himself would not be ready to bet that this will not happen between now and 2010!