Europe's largest enlargement which took place on May 1 is
the result of a series of progressive steps and meetings
starting in 1993 when EU leaders set the famous Copenhagen
criteria. These outlined the emocratic, political and market
economy requirements for membership of the EU.
At the beginning it was a two-tier process with half the
countries in a fast group, the Luxembourg group, and half
in a slower group, the Helsinki group.
Following a change in government in 1998 Malta just about
made it to the Helsinki group partly thanks to the fact
that the Labour government had not withdrawn the membership
application but had simply suspended it. Had the Labour
government withdrawn the application altogether Malta would
most probably have missed this enlargement since the process
of submitting a new application would have been too complex.
It would have also required consensus among the 15 member
states, some of which were diplomatically expressing irritation
at Malta's switch on-switch-off approach to European policy.
The European Commission, while handling the negotiations
with the applicant countries, was supervising the process
of implementing the administrative structures in all countries
to allow them to introduce the rules and
regulations of the acquis in many different sectors particularly
those related to the single market.
During this period I was employed as an economist with the
European Commission and worked for the European Union delegation
to Malta. It was a privilege to work under the guidance
of Romano Prodi, the President of the European Commission
who I believe deserves a lot of credit for putting EU enlargement
as a central target of the Commission when he became President
in 1999. This work allowed me to go into the detail of all
the chapters in the negotiations particularly from an economic
perspective.
By 2001, the European Commission was able to announce that
10 countries were ready to join the EU and the negotiations
were completed at the end of 2002 with the important Copenhagen
Summit in December where enlargement from 15 to 25 member
states was given the go-ahead.
A lot of bartering took place at that summit. The Maltese
government, for example, withdrew its request for six seats
in the European parliament in exchange for a protocol on
abortion and a unilateral declaration on
neutrality.
The protocol on abortion was an unnecessary bonus because
the European Union was never going to force Malta to legislate
in favour of abortion. The type of declaration on neutrality
signed by Malta has no legal value and did not bind the
EU in any way. Therefore, as things stand, the EU will expect
Malta to participate fully in future European integration
in the fields of foreign policy, security and defence despite
the potential risks for such a small nation state.
Why was the government so keen on signing a binding agreement
with the EU about abortion but not about Malta's future
security requirements? The government of Malta should use
its diplomatic resources to afeguard Malta's neutrality
with a view to ensuring that Malta's national interest will
in future not clash with that of other member states in
the EU.
We must all collaborate to ensure that Malta's interests
correspond to those of other European states particularly
in light of the fact that the EU will continue to evolve
its common foreign and security policy into something more
concrete. It is not enough to say that Malta, like other
member states, retains the right of veto in this field.
It is much wiser for Malta to reach an agreement through
diplomatic channels instead of threatening to use a veto
that would have negative political and economic consequences
for the island.
Malta's security is linked to our economic development.
Our country requires leadership that can formulate national
strategies to encourage economic growth with a view to fulfilling
the economic obligations of accession while creating employment
opportunities in Malta. The success of Malta's membership
of the EU will be measured against the performance of Malta's
economy, job creation and security. According to current
indications the government is not able to properly handle
the responsibilities related to Malta's membership of the
EU.
The Nationalist Party should concentrate on these important
tasks related to the future challenges and opportunities
for Malta as an EU member state instead of wasting its energy
questioning the Malta Labour Party's commitment to Europe.
Mr Micallef will be contesting the European parliament elections
on a Malta
Labour Party ticket
During the years of European Union-Malta
negotiations I was employed as an economist with the European
Commission and throughout that period the general consensus
among Commission officials was that integration in the Single
Market represented the biggest test for Malta as an EU member.
Following enlargement, the EU Single
Market comprises 450 million consumers, making it the largest
internal market in the world. The Single Market is based
on four main pillars: free movement of goods; free movement
of persons; free movement of services; and the free movement
of capital.
A large part of the EU acquis communautaire
relates to the rules of the Single Market and implementation
of these rules in a small economy like Malta will provide
opportunities for well prepared enterprises. They will also
represent a huge challenge for the country in terms of absorbtion
of market regulations and in withstanding the competitive
pressure of market players.
Free movement of goods means the removal
of tariffs and custom duties on imports and exports from
EU members states. It also means a unified system of standards
of packaging and hygiene that are implemented across the
EU member states. There is a uniform taxation system for
all imports from non-EU states.
In parallel, free movement of persons
implies that citizens of EU states have the choice to live,
work and study in any other EU member state under the same
conditions of nationals of those states. This can impact
on the incomes earned, social security services, school
fees that are extended to the citizens of the corresponding
country.
Free movement of services entails that
companies, including SMEs, can legally relocate to another
EU member country under the same terms and conditions that
apply for home companies. This means that the company would
not have to operate like a foreign company. This can impact
on corporate taxation, paper work needed to set up the company
and ownership rules.
Linked with the above is the free movement
of capital. This implies that citizens and companies from
the EU operate under uniform financial rules. This extends
to the opening of bank accounts as well as saving and investment
opportunities.
Ideally the Single Market should provide
added opportunities to EU member states. For the individual
it means that finding working opportunities are no longer
limited to the territory in which a person lives. For companies
it means that they may expand to markets that were previously
not accessible. For households and firms the Single Market
should be able to provide a wider and more transparent choice
of investment prospects.
Despite its large economic market,
the EU lags behind other world leaders, such as the US.
One of the reasons for this may be that many of the directives
that are part of the unified market have not been fully
implemented even by the old EU member states. This is why
the European Commission set out the Internal Market Strategy
2003-2006. The report aims to outline ways of improved implementation
of the Single Market Directives.
Most of the member states default on
meeting the deadlines they set out themselves to meet the
directives. Indeed, according to the report a total of 134
Directives, making up nine per cent of EU Internal Market
regulations, have not been set into national laws.
There are benefits to be reaped from
such an enlarged market for firms who are serious about
becoming competitive. Much of the current Directives being
implemented or being out into place have preceded Malta's
accession. Thus we have inherited most of these rules and
regulations.
The European Commission was the driving
force in achieving common positions between all countries
and to help the accession countries to implement the administrative
capacity and structures to fulfil the obligations of the
Single Market. My sincere hope is that Malta's participation
in the Single Market will help create jobs and be less bumpy
than the preparatory process. However, this can only be
achieved if the government and business sectors are able
to devise the right strategies.
The success of Malta's EU accession
will be measured primarily against the performance of the
economy and the ability to create jobs. The openings and
opportunities for Malta created by EU membership will not
bear fruit unless the government and business sector devise
a truly national strategy for economic growth and job creation.
Such a strategy should have clear objectives
that can be delivered effectively. It is important that
policies that support and assist the Maltese economy are
put in place to help prepare firms become more competitive.
Knowledge sharing with countries with similar situations
and easy access to reliable market information are important.
The European Parliament will increase
in importance and a lot of future legislation will originate
from European structures. Maltese MEPs need to be well versed
with the dynamics of the system but also very aware of the
impact on the Maltese economy and society that new legislation
may have.
In terms of future European legislation
that builds on the already negotiated acquis, MEPs should
be able to take into account any negative impact on Malta's
economic sectors and propose special clauses in European
legislation accordingly.
As an economist responsible for the
economic aspects of the work done by the European Commission
delegation for Malta during the EU-Malta negotiations, the
screening process, and in the co-ordination related to the
implementation of the acquis, I am honoured to offer my
services to the Maltese electorate as an EP candidate.
http://www.robertmicallef.com
Robert Micallef, MBA, MA, DSS (Oxon.),
is an economist and an MLP candidate for the European Parliament
election.
