The rapid rise of Labour MEP candidate Robert Micallef comes
as no surprise to his former colleagues at the European
Commission where he worked during EU-Malta negotiations.
Dr Gianni Cutuli from the Agenzia Giornalistica Europa writes
about the European credentials of economist Robert Micallef
who has managed to attract to his platform both keen supporters
of European integration as well as former prime ministers
Dom Mintoff and Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici.
Robert Micallef’s arguments about the need to improve
the terms of Malta’s membership in the European Union
have received an enthusiastic response both from Europhiles
who are unhappy with the current Government’s performance
in European affairs and also from eurosceptics who are prepared
to support a candidate who articulates a realistic way forward
in navigating the European system with a view to improving
the conditions of EU membership. When viewing the cv’s
of all the candidates Micallef appears to be highly technically
and academically qualified to do the job and is the only
candidate who has direct experience of employment at a senior
level within the European Institutions. He worked as an
economist with the European Commission and worked for the
European Union Delegation to Malta as the right hand man
of EU ambassador Dr Giorgio Boggio during a key period of
Eu-Malta relations. It is no surprise that the Nationalist
Party have targeted Micallef in their media showing clips
of former labour prime ministers Mintoff and Mifsud Bonnici
calling on Maltese voters to vote for Robert Micallef. This
does not seem to disturb Micallef who insists that making
a success of EU membership requires a national effort that
should include anyone who is willing to take on the challenges
and opportunities of EU membership. He welcomes the support
of the two former prime ministers as much as he looks forward
to work with both Nationalist and Labour candidates who
are running for election to the European Parliament.
Robert Micallef believes that MEPs should help foster a
greater sense of belonging in Europe amongst the electorate
by explaining why the work of the institutions is relevant
to the working lives of the Maltese people. He states that
the results of EU-Malta negotiations are not sacred. In
fact the Maltese Government is trying to obtain six seats
in the European Parliament instead of five as agreed in
the Accession Treaty. Micallef takes the government to task
for not being prepared to discuss the possibility of other
improvements if they can help absorb the obligations of
membership or if they can provide better guarantees for
Malta’s security. In an interview with a leading Sunday
newspaper Robert Micallef states that Malta has a government
that has a lethargic outlook on European affairs and is
not well equipped in handling the responsibilities of membership
particularly in the economic sector or in managing the opportunities
of membership such as in project financing.
His two priorities for Malta are economic development and
security. He thinks that Malta’s success as a European
member state depends to a large extent on fulfilling Europe’s
economic criterias particularly on national debt, deficit
and job creation. The government can’t afford to lose
track in this area since this could create problems for
the rest of the European Union and also threaten Malta’s
social fabric. Security issues are also crucial and Micallef
expresses disappointment that the Government seems to neglect
this issue at a time when all the EU leaders want to make
it their priority due to the increasing threat of terrorism
and the future military profile of Europe. He states that
Europe requires a stronger and more effective voice in international
diplomacy but this should not compromise the future security
of Malta as a small nation which could be an easy target
of international terrorism.
