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EU membership date in question

The Ireland referendum may not serve to derail the European accession process, but will definitely prolong the process. And this may mean that come Autumn 2003, there may be no referendum and election for the EU. Just another national election.

This scenario redefines not only local politics, but the political plans of Eddie Fenech Adami, who has made it abundantly clear that he has a dream of taking Malta to Europe.

This may not be possible and though the 67 year old Premier seems to have the stamina and determination to fight another election it is unclear whether he could captain a referendum after 2003. In January 2004, he will be just over seventy years of age.

The reality is that with enlargement postponed, government thinkers will be calling on the party leadership to give more time and energy to domestic affairs.

Reviving the economy and consolidating wealth will guarantee success for the Europhiles.
In the meantime, the eurosceptics are having a whale of a time.

Yesterday in Balzan, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, the former Premier, better known for his bizarre politics, toasted the Irish for their ‘No’ at the Campaign for National Independence. The journalists were offered cheap champagne, as the former Labour leader spewed venom at Gunther Verheugen, EU Commissioner for Enlargement, for his statement that the Irish would not block enlargement. He also added that the fact that the referendum took place in Ireland alone, was proof of the undemocratic nature of the European Union.

Sharon Ellul Bonici a CNI spokesperson –somewhat different to the rest of the sceptics crowd, said that she wondered whether Mr Fenech Adami would also call the Maltese people selfish, if they voted against membership.

Barely an hour later, the IVA campaign was holding its press conference in their premises, in Sliema.

Dr Joanna Drake was nonetheless upbeat, referring to the UK election and the overwhelming vote in support of Blair’s European vision. She expressed disappointment at the Irish vote but she said that the European Union has been faced with similar events in the past.

Yet, she conceded this may slow down the process.

She reminded the journalists that the Irish referendum was proof, yet again of the deep rooted concept of sovereignty within the European Union member states.

Dr Drake said that IVA Malta fl-Ewropa continued to be a strong believer that the better choice for Malta was in Europe. She echoed what had been stated by the Belgian State Minister, Neyts who had declared that it was either in or out with Europe – in a clear riposte to Labour’s Switzerland in the Mediterranean slogan.

And she welcomed the decision by the Government to publish the impact reports on EU membership.

She called on the Maltese public to seek the truth about the European Union and see the advantages of membership.