European Union leaders struck a surprisingly quick agreement on the Reform Treaty in the early hours of Friday morning, putting an to end more than two years of intense bickering over the future running and power sharing of the EU.

Speaking in the wake of the monumental deal, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi hailed the occasion as a “truly historic moment” representing the fruition of some six years of hard work, which began before Malta’s EU accession.

Expressing immense satisfaction that Malta had secured its sixth European parliamentary seat, raising Malta’s representation from five to six MEPs, Dr Gonzi added that the deal struck was a source of satisfaction not only for Malta but also for the whole of the EU.

Dr Gonzi added that the indications were that the new ‘Lisbon Treaty’, as it is being dubbed, would be ceremoniously signed in Lisbon on 13 December – coinciding with the next formal EU summit in Brussels in December.

The EU’s 27 national parliaments will now set themselves about ratifying the new EU charter with a view to having it in place in time for the next European parliamentary elections in June 2009.

Dr Gonzi expressed his wish to begin the Maltese parliamentary ratification process as soon as possible following the December signing off ceremony.

While Dr Gonzi was confident there would be no stumbling blocks in the process, he still advised caution. One EU member state, Ireland, will also hold a referendum on the treaty due to the country’s constitutional requirements.

Foreign Minister Michael Frendo, meanwhile, described the deal as having been vital not only for Malta, but also for all small EU member states.

But the agreement came at a price, with both Italy and Poland needing to be placated to avoid the potential use of their veto powers, which would have scuttled the EU’s institutional reform plans.

The last EU formal summit in June under the German presidency had essentially laid the groundwork for the forging of a deal in Lisbon. But the speed with which the deal had been struck under the Portuguese presidency was astonishing considering the potentially insurmountable hurdles presented by Polish and Italian demands on EU council vote weighting and the trimming of the EU’s parliamentary seats.

With the more contentious matters done and dusted, EU leaders yesterday morning turned to addressing the Lisbon Agenda goals aimed at dealing with the effects of today’s increasingly globalised world and markets – a crucial area for the EU’s future competitiveness and prosperity.

“Now that we have concluded the EU’s institutional reforms, we can turn toward the EU’s competitiveness. The more the EU thrives, the more Malta will thrive and as such the development of the common good is the most important issue for both the EU and for Malta.”

Dr Gonzi remarked how EU leaders around the table had stressed that in order to succeed in today’s globalised world, member states needed to invest heavily in education – and the Malta’s record investment in education announced in this week’s budget was exactly what EU leaders were speaking of.

“Instead of being afraid of globalisation, we need to rise to and face the challenges ahead,” Dr Gonzi stressed. “Today’s age of globalisation, if addressed properly, could very well translate into not only more jobs, but also better jobs for the Maltese people.”

Malta had recently applied to benefit from the European Globalisation Fund, which provides retraining funding for workers who have fallen victim to the consequences of globalisation, after hundreds of layoffs in the Maltese textiles sector. Malta is currently awaiting a reply from the EU as regards its eligibility.

The environment and climate change also ranked high on yesterday’s agenda – issues Dr Gonzi highlighted were fundamental to both the Maltese and wider European population’s quality of life.

Also discussed yesterday was the migratory phenomenon being faced by the EU, an area where Malta holds a particular interest. Malta will also have a strong interest in the upcoming 8 December EU-Africa summit, where root issues such as the development of African countries and good governance will be treated.

As for the EU’s institutional reform, the redistribution of MEP seats in the European Parliament proved to be a matter of contention, with 17 of the 27 EU member states losing parliamentary seats.

The overall number of Europe’s parliamentarians is to fall from the current 785 to 751 for the next MEP elections. Italy had threatened to scamper the deal if it was to lose the anticipated six seats.

Thursday night’s compromise, however, has seen Italy only losing five seats and hence maintaining its parliamentary parity with the UK.

Poland, meanwhile, was placated by the institution of three EU attorney generals, one of which would be Polish – in return for an agreement on the replacement of the unanimity requirement at EU council level with a double majority voting system, a move it had staunchly opposed.

The new system will see EU decisions being taken only with the approval of at least 55 per cent of member states representing at least 65 per cent of the EU’s population of 490 million.

Coupled with the bid to shrink the size of the European parliament is another intention to reduce the size of the EU Commission from 27 to 17 commissioners, which would rotate between member states for five-year terms.

Meanwhile, in a press release issued yesterday evening, Green Maltese mp in the Italian parliament Arnold Cassola yesterday welcomed the news that Malta has been formally given its sixth seat in the European Parliament.

Prof. Cassola said: “Alternattiva Demokratika – The Green Party and I have been working towards this goal since 1998”. “Malta should have insisted on this point during the Nice Summit in December 1999 and the Copenhagen Summit in 2002, but evidently the Fenech Adami administration had other priorities,” he said.

Prof. Cassola also thanked Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi for always supporting Malta on this issue. Prof. Cassola concluded by saying that: “It is a pity that the newspaper Il Giornale fabricated a false story on Malta's sixth seat and Italy, and that Maltese MEPs Simon Busuttil and David Casa contributed towards creating an artificial rift (which, in reality never existed) between Malta and Italy”.