Opinion• 02 March 2003

The EU is just sexier

Julian Manduca wants to see a sea of colours, blues and greens, yellows, bright red and pink

So much has been written about whether we should join the EU or not, that it is virtually impossible to write anything new, but I will try. Marie Briguglio said voting could be just a matter of gut feeling and she may well be right.

We can be bombarded with facts and figures, showered with arguments, but at the end of the day we will use our heart as well as our mind.

There are many like me that have never felt comfortable, no matter who was in government. We have lived through several administrations and were never very impressed. Maltese society is so insular, our lives so dominated by political parties, everything is so dependent on who one knows, that it is sometimes difficult to breathe. We have been longing for a breath of fresh air and that is what I perceive the EU to be.

Staying out of the EU has some romantic connotations, but its appeal quickly disappears when one thinks of Maltese politicians trying to bring Malta’s standards up to those of the EU without outside pressure.

The Malta Labour Party can blow its trumpet to its heart’s content. It can argue that there are disadvantages to joining, and there certainly are, but the MLP can never offer what the EU can, in the long run.

And it is the long run that we should be considering. Not all in the MLP are against Malta ever joining, and the Labour Party wants us to look at the difficulties. But we are prepared to overlook these as we know that Malta will face difficulties come what may – even with the partnership option - and we feel that somehow joining the EU will be exciting. And that is what it all boils down to in the end. Excitement. Change. Diversity. The EU option is just, somehow….sexier. Which other institution would choose a pot smoking, bisexual, eccentric dressing, rock and roll fanatic (Marco Cappato) as its European of the Year?

Joining the EU would put us on a par and in the same club as Spaniards, Latvians, Danes and Poles and we want to associate with these people. We see ourselves joining a club that is a mover and shaker in the international arena, even if we may not agree with the way it sometimes moves and shakes.

I remember what I used to think of the countries behind the Iron Curtain. I had a vision dominated by greyness, a place where time stood still. No doubt I was somewhat wrong and influenced by the media, I am sure people living in Bulgaria, East Germany or the USSR had, by and large, similar lives to ours. But to me, as an outsider, life in those countries seemed drab and colourless. That is exactly the vision I have of the partnership option. Bleak grey. Whenever I see those smiling happy faces on the partnership adverts I get the wobblies. I know what will happen if we don’t join. We will hem ourselves in, we will go back to the usual discussions. It will start to be Malta against everyone else. We will be trying to outdo everyone else, rather than co-operating with them. Above all I don’t believe we can achieve EU standards unless we join.

I don’t want to live in a world of grey. I want to see blues and greens, yellows, bright red and pink. I want to see optimism, even though I am realistic. I want us to try and reach for great heights even if I know that, at least in the short term, we will not succeed. I know that Malta will not achieve EU standards – at least initially. I have little faith in our politicians and our administrators. I also believe that Labour supporters will be the ones to use the EU more than anyone else to criticise the government. But they will also be the ones to thrive on EU membership once elected, like each other Labour government in the EU.

No thank you Dr Sant. I don’t share your optimism for the partnership option. At this point, Malta rejecting EU membership is simply unthinkable. If we don’t join we might as well pack our bags…and the last one out…..please close the door.