Speaking to Guto Thomas, the BBC Wales Europe Correspondent early last week, Dr Borg said he has fond memories of his time in Wales in the late 1980s as a postgraduate law student.

But it could have been very different thanks to two police officers who almost arrested him on unfounded suspicion of car theft.

He received his masters in European law from Aberystwyth in 1988 after submitting his thesis on harmonising company law in Europe.

He told BBC Wales his stay in west Wales was a happy time, and apart from his academic work, he visited Caernarfon, Swansea, Bangor and Tenby.

Dr Borg’s family also came to live with him in a cottage near Aberystwyth. His children attended St Padarn’s School, where they were given a warm welcome by the teaching staff, and learnt how to sing Penblwydd Hapus (Happy Birthday) in Welsh.

But it wasn’t entirely plain sailing.

Dr Borg, aged 52, recalled: “I had driven overland from Malta to Wales with my family to take up residence for one year.

“One time a friend of mine, who is very well versed in the mechanics of cars, came to stay with us.

“He suggested that since my car had covered such a distance it was best if we aligned the position of the tyres of the car to ensure good road holding.

“As we were driving that afternoon, we pulled over in a desolate country spot and jacked up the car to switch round the tyres.

“We must have been spotted by some residents of a faraway cottage who found our behaviour a little suspicious. Pretty soon a police car came past and pulled over.

“They found the two of us bent over switching tyres and started to question us on suspicion of auto theft.

“They immediately wanted to arrest us and take us to the local police station. I, by then completely covered in oil, tried to explain that it was really my car and that I was living in Wales for a year.

“They found my story unconvincing and after my repeated appeals to them, I convinced them to call my landlady to verify my story, a Mrs Evans, an extremely kind person who lived with her husband and son just down the road to where we were staying.

“After many apologies the police left and we continued with our afternoon labour.

“I kept having visions of trying to explain to my wife and children why I was calling them from the cell of a Welsh prison.”