Malta
and Slovenia – A Growth of European Momentum?
By
Scott B. MacDonald
On March 9, 2003 the island-state of Malta voted in favor of joining
the European Union in a referendum. This was the first popular
test among 10 nations invited to become EU members next year.
According to official results, 53.65% or 143,094 Maltese, voted
"yes," The “no” vote won 46.35% or 123,628.
This was a relatively narrow margin mirroring worries that membership
in the EU could compromise the island-state’s tradition of
highly prized independence.
The vote was important for the EU. Clearly EU headquarters in
Brussels and the other nine EU candidates were watching closely
due to concerns that enthusiasm for an expanded Europe was weakening.
European Commission President Romano Prodi said the result boded
well for ratification in other countries. "This is a choice
for stability and growth, as well as for the peaceful reunification
of Europe and the European people," Mr. Prodi said in a statement
from Brussels.
One of the reasons for the possibility of waning excitement over
EU membership has been the seemingly heavy-handed approach to
developing a common European foreign policy, led by France and
followed by Germany. Indeed, the Paris-Berlin bid at leadership
in regard to policy over Iraq ultimately resulted in French President
Jacques Chirac talking down to a number of potential EU members,
in particular, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania. Other concerns have
been in surrounding policy independence to Brussels in a number
of areas, despite obvious gains in terms of the EU’s generous
assistance.
The vote was a victory for Malta's pro-membership Prime Minister,
Eddie Fenech Adami, though the opposition challenged him to call
elections soon for another test of voter sentiment. But Labour
party leader Alfred Sant said that with 270,000 ballots cast,
the 20,000 people who didn't vote meant the "yes" total
amounted to less than half the eligible electorate. Voter turnout
was roughly 90 per cent.
The Prime Minister’s Nationalist government met soon thereafter
and decided to make an "opportune decision" on Mr. Sant's
demand by calling for a general election on April 12. This was
not a shock to the public as it was widely expected that the cabinet
would call for elections in a few weeks, possibly to be held just
before Malta is to sign its EU accession treaty in an April 16
ceremony in Athens.
Doubts about EU expansion have been growing across the continent,
and the people of Malta — proud of decades of independence
and policies of non-alignment — went to the polls divided
over whether their Mediterranean archipelago should join the bloc.
A spat between Paris and EU-candidate nations over Washington's
tough stance on Iraq only aggravated unease among smaller, less-developed
countries that they would be dwarfed politically by bloc members
such as France, Germany and the UK. New EU members will receive
billions of dollars in aid, but they will also have to open their
markets. Many workers in Malta worry that the price of membership
would be slashed jobs as protectionist barriers come down.
Slovenia's referendum is next, on March 23. Other candidates with
referendums pending include Poland, where a strong farming lobby
fears agriculture will suffer from EU membership, as well as the
Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary and Slovakia.
Cyprus is to ratify its bid with a parliamentary vote.
