At a breakfast meeting yesterday morning with constituted bodies, unions and other organisations from civil society, UHM’s Gejtu Vella reminded participants that EU membership has served Malta well as an insurance policy, protecting us all from risks that we could not carry alone.

EU membership has indeed served us well. As has our adoption of the Euro. They have both shielded us from the worst economic crisis in decades. Others have not been as fortunate.

This point was made to me by the Icelandic Foreign Minister only this week. He explained that, in a matter of weeks, as a result of not being in either the EU or the Eurozone, his country faced a veritable economic meltdown. Iceland’s currency floundered, people discovered that their purchasing power as well as their savings had been virtually wiped out. Pensioners could not withdraw money from their banks as the three major banks collapsed. Interest rates soared, investment ground to a stop, property prices tumbled and unemployment shot up. A nightmare scenario.

The Icelandic Minister was in Malta to learn more about Malta’s EU negotiations and how it has made a success of EU membership.

Why is all this relevant ahead of the European Parliament election this Saturday? It is relevant because what the European Parliament decides has a direct bearing on your life. And what the European Parliament decides will be affected – positively or negatively – by the people you elect on Saturday.

That the PN has always been convinced on EU membership is a known fact. And it is precisely this conviction – and the successful policies that have come out of this conviction – that has saved our country, your job and your family’s wellbeing from being wiped out over the past twelve months.

On the other hand, the Labour Party and its new leader had the opposite instincts on the EU. They fought hard against membership, they fought hard against joining the Euro ‘so early’. Dr Muscat even advised the Icelandic population not to consider EU membership. These wrong policies would have cost you dearly; in the present crisis unemployment would have been sky-high while your savings would have been rock-bottom. And they have still not apologised for this. Instead they tell us to forget the past.

I would have hoped for a good result for the PN next Saturday. Unfortunately, that is not on the cards. We have spent the past year doing two things: protecting the economy from the ravages of the economic crisis while implementing as much of our electoral programme as is realistically possible. This has meant difficult decisions in a negative economic climate. Certainly we could have handled some things – such as the electricity rates – much better. But what we have done – as in the case of our decisions to join the EU and the Euro – has been done in the interests of the country as a whole.

On the other hand, under its new leader, the Labour Party has returned to tactics that discard the truth. Hence the false claims on health care charges which had already been made before last year’s elections. Throughout the campaign, the Labour Party has preferred to cast doubt, to criticise, to talk the country down and to feed people’s fears. But it has not come up with one single solution for any of the problems the country faces: the economy, jobs, immigration or even energy costs.

On the contrary, my government is facing the challenges before it. Even at high political cost. But for the Nationalist Party, finding solutions in the best interest of the country is what comes first, not its temporary popularity. We have been entrusted with steering the country through the next four – difficult – years. And this is what we will do, to the best of our ability.

It is now over to you. This Saturday, the question on your ballot sheet is about which candidates can best serve your interests in Europe. Go through the list. See what they stand for. See what comes first for them. See what comes first for you and your family. And choose those candidates that share your aspirations for the future. I hope you will agree that they are the same ones that shared your views on Europe in the past. I hope you will trust them with your future in the European Parliament.