European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will arrive in Malta today for a working visit – this should allow the government to press him for more commitment from the EU on issues that the country is having to deal with.

This will be the first time that an EC President will be visiting Malta as an EU member state. Romano Prodi did indeed pay a visit before Malta joined the union. One expects that Mr Barroso will be here primarily in preparation for a crucial EU summit to be held in the coming weeks to address the issue of an EU Constitution. France and the Netherlands had put the matter to a referendum last year and had it rejected. This led to some countries halting the ratification process in parliament, while others were to vote on the issue in a referendum, but these too were halted.

One expects that on Malta’s side, the issues of irregular immigration and hunting will be at the top of the agenda, though the EU may have other thoughts. The former will obviously be raised in an effort to secure more commitment from the EU in burden sharing. However, it is expected to be a difficult task. The vibes from the EU are, unreasonably in Maltese eyes, not positive, both from the Commission and other member states. European Commissioner Franco Frattini recently lambasted Malta for leaving immigrants clinging to a tuna net and the chorus of disapproval from various countries was deafening. But Malta having put the problem in their lap, by asking for their help, the EU’s silence was ear-splitting, the dosh is not forthcoming. Added to that, we have a situation whereby (as mentioned in previous editorials) Frontex is only at 10 per cent of the promised capacity. Moreover, we have only seen very slight moves from European states to take on some of the migrants who have actually been granted refugee status.

Many would say that this working visit by Mr Barroso is the perfect opportunity for us to get some promise of assistance from the EU. But is it? A large part of the European Union’s workings are the wheeling and dealing side of things. One only has to experience an EU Budget Summit to see it amply clearly. What are we getting at? Mr Barroso, as we said, will be focusing on the preparations for the upcoming summit. Yet Malta rushed into ratifying the EU Constitution in parliament last year. What does that mean? We have absolutely no bargaining power. The EU is a political organisation and as far back as anyone delves into history, no one gets anything for nothing in the world of politics. It is all about you give me something and I will give you something in return. What can Malta give at this point? We have nothing at all. The only thing we can do is take a tough stance on immigration and hope for the best. The lesson to be learnt is that Malta should not rush into ratifying or approving everything EU-related. It is one thing to get our house in order and push forward our 2007-2013 EU budgetary plans. But it is another matter entirely to rush into approval of legislation that leaves the country without bargaining power.

On the other hand one is sure that there will be positives that will come out of this meeting and that Mr Barroso might gain a better insight as to the problems that our tiny island nation faces. He has of course already been to Malta in 2004, but not as European Commission President.

One thing is certain, we should not only show Mr Barroso the beautiful parts of our island. We should make sure that he sees our meagre naval assets, the number of immigrants that we keep here and the problems that we face in housing them. Perhaps then, we might get a better commitment from the EU to help in dealing with the phenomenon.