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Malta and Relations with the European Union SECRETARIAT WORKING PARTY TASK-FORCE "ENLARGEMENT" THE COORDINATOR JF/bo Luxembourg, 1st March 2000 Briefing no. 5 MALTA AND RELATIONS WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION (Fourth update) * The views expressed in this document are not necessarily those of the European Parliament as an institution.= INTRANET: http://www.europarl.ep.ec/enlargement INTERNET: http://www.europarl.eu.int/enlargement EPADES: epades\public\elargiss PE 167.350/rev.4 Or. EN EN EN The briefings drafted by the European Parliament Secretariat's Task Force on Enlargement aim to present in a systematic, summary form, the state of discussions on the various aspects of enlargement of the Union and the positions adopted by the Member States, the applicant countries, and European institutions. Briefings will be updated as the negotiation progress. The following briefings have already been published: Number Title PE No Date Languages 1 Cyprus and membership of the European Union 167.284/rev.5 21.10.99 All 2 Hungary and the enlargement of the European Union 167.296/rev.2 01.02.99 All 3 Romania and its accession to the European Union 167.297/rev.2 26.02.99 All 4 The Czech Republic and the enlargement of the European Union 167.335/rev.3 18.10.99 All 5 Malta and the relations with the European Union 167.350/rev.3 01.07.99 All 6 Bulgaria and the enlargement of the European Union 167.392/rev.3 11.10.99 All 7 Turkey and relations with the European Union 167.407/rev.2 17.06.99 All 8 Estonia and the enlargement of the European Union 167.409/rev.1 08.10.98 All 9 Slovenia and accession to the European Union 167.531/rev.1 08.02.99 All 10 Latvia and enlargement of the European Union 167.532/rev.2 27.09.99 All 11 Lithuania and enlargement of the European Union 167.533/rev.2 12.01.99 All 12 Poland and accession to the European Union 167.587/rev.3 25.10.99 All 13 Slovakia and accession to the European Union 167.609/rev.2 20.08.99 All 14 Russia and enlargement of the European Union 167.734/rev.2 25.10.99 All 15 The institutional aspects of enlargement of the European Union 167.299/rev.1 21.06.99 DE-EN-ES -FR-IT 16 Controlling and protecting European Union finances with a view to enlargement 167.330 09.03.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 17 Environmental policy and enlargement 167.402 23.03.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 18 The European Conference and the enlargement of the European Union 167.410 03.04.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 19 Budgetary aspects of enlargement 167.581 12.04.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 20 Democracy and respect for human rights in the enlargement process of the EU 167.582 01.04.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 21 Enlargement and Economic and Social Cohesion 167.584 08.05.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 22 Statistical Annex on Enlargement 167.614/rev.6 13.10.99 EN 23 Legal Questions of Enlargement 167.617 19.05.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 24 Pre-accession strategy for enlargement of the European Union 167.631 17.06.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 25 Co-operation in the area of justice and home affairs in the enlargement process 167.690/rev.1 30.03.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 26 Women's rights and enlargement of the EU 167.735 14.07.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 27 Enlargement and Agriculture 167.741 03.09.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 28 Switzerland and Enlargement 167.777/rev.1 08.03.99 All 29 Enlargement and Fisheries 167.799 12.10.98 All 30 Common foreign and security policy and enlargement of the European Union 167.822/rev.1 26.07.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 3 PE 167.350/rév.4 Number Title PE No Date Languages 31 Security and defence and enlargement of the European Union 167.877 30.10.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 32 The European Economic Area (EEA) and the enlargement of the EU 167.887 17.11.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 33 The PHARE Programme and the enlargement of the EU 167.944 04.12.98 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 34 The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the enlargement of the EU 167.962/rev.1 20.10.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 35 The industrial policy and the enlargement of the EU 167.963/rev.1 24.06.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 36 Agenda 2000 and the accession process to the EU 168.008/rev.1 10.06.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 37 Enlargement and external economic relations 168.062/rev.1 08.09.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 38 The role of the European Parliament in the enlargement process 168.065 27.01.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 39 The social aspects of enlargement of the EU 168.115/rev.1 01.07.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 40 Nuclear safety in the applicant countries of Central an Eastern Europe 168.257 22.03.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 41 Public opinion on enlargement in the EU Member States and applicant countries 168.296 22.04.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 42 The Russian minority in the Baltic States and the enlargement of the EU 168.307 03.05.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 43 Energy policy and the enlargement of the EU 168.394 10.06.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 44 The transport policy and the enlargement of the EU 168.459 28.07.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT 45 National Parliaments and enlargement/accession 168.571 10.11.99 DE-EN-ES-FR-IT To obtain copies of the above briefings, please contact: Mrs E. Deguffroy, Luxembourg, SCH Room 602, Tel. (352) 4300-22906 / fax: (352) 4300-29027 Task Force on Enlargement, Brussels, LEO 06D119, Tel. (32 2) 284 2381 / fax: (32 2) 284 4984 Task Force on Enlargement, Strasbourg, IP2 447, Tel. (33 3) 8817-4408 / fax: (33 3) 8817-9059 INTRANET: http://www.europarl.ep.ec/enlargement INTERNET: http://www.europarl.eu.int/enlargement EPADES: epades\public\elargis 4 PE 167.350/rév.4 BRIEFING ON MALTA AND RELATIONS WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 7 I. POLITICAL SITUATION.................................................................................... 7 1. A look back to the general election of 26 October 1996................................... 7 2. The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership............................................................... 9 3. The early election of 5 September 1998: victory for the Nationalist Party........ 9 Results .............................................................................................................. 9 II. ECONOMIC SITUATION ................................................................................ 10 1. General ......................................................................................................... 10 2. Recent developments .................................................................................... 11 III. RELATIONS BETWEEN MALTA AND THE EU.......................................... 12 1. Relations before October 1996 ...................................................................... 12 2. The Commission's first opinion on Malta's application for membership and the development of relations with the EU................................................ 13 3. Developments up to October 1996 ................................................................ 13 4. Relations with the European Union since 26 October 1996............................ 14 5. The election of 5 September 1998: reactivation of the membership application ................................................... 14 6. The Commission's updated opinion ............................................................... 15 7. The pre-accession strategy ............................................................................ 15 8. Screening ...................................................................................................... 15 9. Regular report for the Commission................................................................ 16 IV. MALTA AND THE ICG.................................................................................... 17 ANNEX INTRODUCTION Malta is the smallest of the States applying for membership of the European Union; it has 371 000 inhabitants and an area of 316 km5. Its capital is Valletta. Since it gained independence in 1964, the politics of the Maltese archipelago have been constantly polarised between the two major parties: the Nationalist Party, which is Christian democratic, and the Labour Party. These two parties account for almost all the votes and have alternated in government. At the beginning of 1987 a constitutional amendment was adopted which altered the electoral law. At the same time, the Republic of Malta adopted a policy of neutrality and joined the ranks of the non-aligned states. In June 1990 the Nationalist government applied for EU membership. The Commission gave its opinion in June 1993. The European Council in April 1995 decided that membership negotiations with Malta could begin six months after completion of the Intergovernmental Conference and in the light of its results. The general elections of 26 October 1996, which were brought forward a year, gave victory to the Labour Party (MLP) after nearly 10 years of Nationalist Party government. Because of major differences of opinion between the two main parties on foreign policy, this result changed the nature of the relationship between Malta and the European Union: the Labour government froze the application for EU membership, and a new framework for relations with the EU was put in place in February 1998. However, scarcely two years after the Labour government took power, due primarily to internal tensions within the party, an early general election took place on 5 September 1998. The Nationalist Party's victory brought Malta back onto the track towards EU membership; its application for membership has been "reactivated" (to date a unique occurrence in the history of EU enlargements) (cf. pp 14-15). The Commission has had to update the opinion it gave in June 1993 on Malta's application. It submitted this update in February 1999. Parliament, in the report of 15 April 1999 by Bernie Malone, hoped that membership negotiations could begin before the end of 1999. 7 PE 167.350/rév.4 I. POLITICAL SITUATION 1. A look back to the general election of 26 October 1996 and the Sant government The results of this election were as follows.
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