Campaign for National Independence president Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici is expecting a statement from the European Parliament’s legal services office on the eve of Labour’s extraordinary general conference on Thursday, which might favour his position on the European Constitution.
At the conference, the MLP’s delegates will be deciding on whether the party should ratify the Constitutional Treaty. However, tomorrow the European Parliament’s legal services are expected to give Party of European Socialists MEP Jo Leinen a reply on whether the EU Constitutional Treaty, if ratified, would render obsolete the declarations Malta annexed to its accession treaty in connection with the country’s neutrality and Gozo’s special status as an island region.
The accession treaty was signed by then Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami and then Foreign Minister Joe Borg in Athens in April 2003, while the Constitutional Treaty was signed in October 2004 by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Foreign Minister Michael Frendo.
Asked by The Malta Independent about the outcome he anticipated, Dr Mifsud Bonnici, said he is expecting a negative answer.
“No, the declarations will not stand should the Constitutional Treaty be ratified,” he said.
Mr Leinen asked the legal office to furnish the reply by midday tomorrow, in time for Labour’s conference.
the eve of the general conference, could negatively affect arguments for the ratification of the document being made by the party’s executive and parliamentary group. This is more so because the declarations were annexed to the accession treaty by the Maltese government specifically as safeguards for the country’s neutrality and Gozo special island-region status.
In their motion, the MLP executive and parliamentary group are interpreting the EU Constitutional Treaty as not interfering with Malta’s neutrality or Gozo’s position as an island region with specific economic and social needs.
In fact, on this point Dr Mifsud Bonnici insisted that the Constitutional Treaty does undermine Malta’s neutrality because it obliges the country to obey a common foreign policy. Furthermore, certain aspects of this common policy do not require unanimity.
On this point, he made reference to declarations made by the Opposition Leader during the convention leading up to the draft Constitutional Treaty. Citing from a written document by Dr Sant and former MLP deputy leader George Vella – a copy of which was given to the press – Dr Mifsud Bonnici said they had recognised the problems relating to this point.
In their document Dr Sant and Dr Vella say that, “…if ‘constructive abstention’ is to be accepted, difficulties might arise in the interpretation of the part which states that the member states concerned shall refrain from any action likely to conflict with or impede Union action based on that decision… member states professing the doctrine of neutrality and non-alignment would do well to discuss this aspect of the Draft Treaty in greater depth and to insist on positions that fully protect their status, without impeding the liberty of action of other member states”.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici presented a motion that counters that of the party’s executive and the parliamentary group, in which he calls on the delegates not to vote in favour of the ratification of the Treaty, primarily because it reaffirms and amplifies the negative consequences of the accession treaty signed in Athens 2003.
He also sent a letter to the delegates making his plea. Despite the talk on the part of the Labour party that the discussion on the matter is ongoing, his side of the story was never given any space on the party’s media. Neither was it represented by the PBS, despite being an issue of great importance to the public, he added.
He even complained that he has been left in the dark with regard to the space he will be given to argue the case of his motion, Dr Mifsud Bonnici complained, despite the fact that he forwarded the motion to the party a fortnight ago. Furthermore, his motion is not being publicised along with the others on the general conference adverts appearing in the papers.
He criticised the reservations the party intends to make should it opt to ratify the Treaty in parliament, saying that these are nothing but mere statements and will not be legally binding. Furthermore, in the words of the same motion, the reservations are presented as “the way the party is interpreting the Constitutional Treaty”. What if that interpretation is wrong and what if the EU in the future forces Malta to go against its neutrality, Dr Mifsud Bonnici asked. Will Labour abrogate the Constitutional Treaty or will the party pull Malta out of the EU in that case?
The same argument, Dr Mifsud Bonnici added, applies to the country’s autonomy to provide welfare benefits. What will Labour do if the EU does not allow the country to continue with its current welfare provision?
It is clear that the EU is moving towards reducing welfare benefits, especially when it comes to pensions, he added.
The ratification of the Constitutional Treaty at a time when the EU is pausing to reflect and when the EU is falling under practically everyone’s critical eye, would be shameful for the party, he continued. It would be a shame on the party not to join the progressive forces currently working in the EU.
He also made reference to a seminar, held recently by the PN, in which, he emphasised, there was no critical appraisal of the document but mere propaganda and empty rhetoric which “goes to show what poor level of intellect and politics prevails in Malta,” he added.
Malta’s ratification of the Constitutional Treaty would be equal to the Maltese accepting what their European counterparts are rejecting. The ratification of the Constitutional Treaty would be shameful for the party and the Maltese, he concluded.