According to the latest Eurobarometer survey, support from the Maltese people for EU membership has dropped again. It is now down to 40 per cent from the 45 per cent registered in the previous survey, and a full 15 points down from the survey held 18 months ago.

Eighteen months ago, Malta was about to become a member of the EU, and the expectations were high. The EU issue had dominated Maltese politics for years on end, largely because the Nationalist government was pushing for membership and the Labour opposition was in favour of a partnership arrangement.

This divided the country in two, but ultimately the “yes” campaign emerged victorious in the referendum held in March 2003, with the Nationalists going on to win the election a month later.

It was to be expected that, prior to membership, the majority of the people had high hopes about Malta’s joining the EU. It is also natural that, now that Malta has joined, support for this membership drops.

This is because many thought that Malta would have become a new country overnight. Many thought that the benefits of membership would have been seen in the short-term, in a matter of months, if not weeks.

But this is not the case. Membership in the European Union is not a short-term affair, but one in which the country will gradually improve, over a number of years. The real benefits of the decision Malta took two years ago will be seen in the years to come.

Having said this, in these 16 months that Malta has been an EU member, it has received some e85 million in funding from the union. The projects are linked to the environment, infrastructure, education and training, tourism and the small and medium enterprises sector.

As Parliamentary Secretary Tonio Fenech said when he launched the document National Strategic Reference Network, aimed to ensure the best possible use of EU funds that are allotted for the period 2007-2013, the benefits of EU membership will not be felt until all the projects that are being funded are completed.

In this context, it is positive that Malta is planning how and where to spend the money that the country will get for the seven years starting in 2007. Although no agreement has as yet been forthcoming on the EU budget for this period, planning as from now will enable Malta to be well-prepared if and when such an accord is reached. This will mean that no time would be wasted and, once an agreement is reached, Malta can start making use of the funds as from 1 January, 2007.

One positive result from the Eurobarometer survey is that more Maltese are now in favour of the introduction of the Euro as our currency. The latest survey shows a 50 per cent approval of the EU’s policy of a single currency, as against the 46 per cent of the previous survey. Malta is still below the 59 per cent EU average, but the four per cent improvement indicates that more Maltese are open to this vital change, earmarked for 2008.

A currency change is always a delicate affair and one that raises many questions. Malta has embarked on the road that will bring about this conversion, and steps are being taken so that the people will be well-informed long before the change is actually made.

With regard to the EU Constitution, although 49 per cent said they were in favour, another 35 per cent are still unsure about the matter. This indicates that in spite of all that happened earlier this year – with the Constitution being very much in the news because of what was taking place in France and Holland, and the local debate on the subject too – one third of the Maltese people feel they do not know enough to express an opinion.