I find it very worrying the way Labour is trying to scare the Maltese people on EU membership. It is very preoccupying to hear Labour labouring its point that with EU membership Malta will be reduced to a neo-colonial status and that we will be ordered about by the EU. This is not borne out by the experience of EU members.

This is far removed from the truth. Labour has not grasped the reality of the world`s progress in the political/economic fields during the latter part of the last century. To my mind it has not heard of the word interdependence. By joining the EU our country will have a far stronger voice on the world scene than if we stay out, as the MLP is advocating.

The benefits of membership are obvious and the people need not be afraid of being part of the greatest market on earth. Membership will bring to our people advantages which by far outnumber the disadvantages. We have a very open economy and our greatest commercial partner is the EU; the bulk of our tourists come from EU countries.

It is logical that we can have a bigger influence to safeguard our interests if we are in the Union than out of it. Experience has shown very clearly that the pooling of sovereignty has strengthened the nations forming the EU, has made them more relevant on the world scene and has been instrumental in avoiding internecine conflicts on the European continent. It has brought Europe and the world stability and progress undreamt of in the first half of the last century. Thanks to the foresight of Schuman, Adenauer, De Gasperi, Spaak and other eminent Founding Fathers of the European Economic Community, Europe - and the world - have become a better place to live in.

Labour`s harking and hankering on the obsolete political-legal insistence of sovereignty is irrelevant in the global village scenario obtaining today and shows its inability to adapt to a fast changing world, to adapt to changes in the world`s dynamics, be they political, economic, etc.

Failure on our part to enter as equals in this body of sovereign states would be very detrimental to us and would bring upon us negative repercussions of colossal proportions. A sane person would shudder to contemplate such a situation which would be fatal to Malta on all fronts.

Trying to put the clock back as Labour is doing on Malta`s entry into the EU shows that it has become detached from the present political reality obtaining in a very competitive world and that it has not changed at all from being a xenophobic party, afraid to face up to and take on the challenges facing us.

Such a party this should be sidelined by the voters as was done to Le Pen`s National Front in France very recently. Le Pen wanted to put the political clock back. The result is known by all. All France rallied behind Chirac and Le Pen failed very miserably.

Labour will get the same result in the coming referendum which will decide our destiny. In reality there is no real choice facing us. We have to make sure that we get into Europe. It is a question of survival. The choice is ours to make - we have to opt for EU membership. We have no real alternative.