In Malta, Labour has done the same, although since before the end of 2003, we had started a campaign on the need to protect the welfare state and to promote new investment and job opportunities. Unless this happens, we could be facing a quick strong crisis on the social front in a very short while.

During the past weeks, as my colleagues and I have met literally thousands of people in their homes, during social occasions, in political activities, at formal meetings, I have become very impressed by how strongly social concerns are affecting families. And they are getting worried about the future.

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Despite the hype practised by the right about how well they run things, people both in Malta and in the rest of the European Union are increasingly worried that their world can come apart at the seams.

Of course this is not a worry that a privileged percentage of the population – influential in public administration, business and the media – share. They are assured that no matter what happens, they will be well-provided for. But within wide swathes of the middle class and among those who live off lower incomes, by way of wages or pensions, the worry is that they will have to carry more burdens while finding that the quality of their life is declining.

Such preoccupations are justified. The manana, manana policies followed by PN administrations has made public services less and less efficient, as well as more costly, while driving out new productive investment.

Predictably, as the right has done elsewhere, the PN is blaming the welfare state (“it’s become too costly!”) for the mess we’re in. So, to combat the rising deficit, instead of attempting to streamline public affairs, the government is trying to curtail the welfare state. The strategy is not original to the PN.

Which is why European socialists have been pushing hard their cry for a social Europe – one which puts at the core of its concerns, the need to create jobs and to make social protection the defining issue of the new Europe. The Party of European Socialists (PES), of which the Malta Labour Party recently became a full member, disagrees fundamentally with the strategy by which job creation is made dependent on a free-for-all under the market conditions of a “free” jungle, set up on a continent-wide basis. Not only is this socially irresponsible, in Europe it has been proven not to work.

The newly elected president of the PES, former Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen, has been a protagonist in drawing up a plan for a focused European strategy to make job security and job creation a top priority for Europe. The Malta Labour Party fully supports this aim and we have campaigned strongly during these weeks for the fight against unemployment to be given its due weight.

Meanwhile, the Nationalists tried to relive the campaigns of last year. However, we have said right from the start: in our view, there was a better way for Malta to cultivate the best relations with the EU, than for it to become a member of the Union. We also said right from the start, that Labour would respect the decision delivered by the people at a general election. And this is precisely what we have done, even if the verdict went against our very strong preference.

The choice now is not to relive the question as to what is the best relationship between Malta and the EU. Rightly or wrongly, that has been decided. What is at stake now is who are the best representatives willing and able to safeguard Malta’s interests in the Brussels Parliament.

We believe Labour has the best programme, focused as it is on employment and social welfare issues.

We also believe we have the best team of candidates. They offer a wide spectrum of age, experience, contacts, education and training, plus a deep felt ambition to be of service to the Maltese people. Labour’s MPs in the Brussels Parliament will be able to act from within the European socialist family to promote the social aims that are crucial to the welfare of our people.

Europe is not a bag of stars to be thrown at people’s eyes when election time comes. Europe is a construct that you, as a normal citizen, should be able to make for yourself, in line with your aspirations. That is why Labour subscribes fully to the policies for a social Europe that the Party of European Socialists has been promoting.

We believe that in the context of the new reality created by Malta’s accession to the EU, these policies offer the best hope for further economic and social growth in Malta.

Indeed, we need an activism which breaks through the vicious circles of economic and social behaviour that the Fenech Adami and now the Gonzi administrations have allowed to dominate our future. Labour says yes to vigorous polices which seek to make job creation the number one priority. Yet as of now, we have no such policies.

Labour will also say yes to genuine policies which seek to guarantee the future of the welfare state. Instead, as of now, we have an approach which seeks to dismantle the welfare state (in education, pensions, health) by stealth.

Which is why Labour believes that the 12 June election should also be considered an opportunity to give a signal to the present government regarding how it is performing. More importantly, however, there is the need to ensure that social priorities, and the right ones, are kept at the forefront of government action, at the local, the national and now the European levels.

We believe that Labour is best equipped to carry out this mission with vigour, but without bias or complacency. And we recommend that when citizens come to make the final decision regarding their representatives to the European Parliament, their best approach is to: choose Labour.

Dr Sant is Opposition and Malta Labour Party leader