After the panic summit earlier this month, where the EU agenda went out of the window to cater for crisis discussions on Greece and the eurozone, we finally saw a modicum of calm and stoicism which the union is normally known for.

In the build-up to the summit, there was a lot of sniping – particularly by the European Parliament – against French and German leader Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel for the way they handled the bailout issue. But for a summit that seemed headed for deadlock discussions, the results were pretty fruitful.

The first thing that must be said is that the EU has restored calm and serenity to the union as well after months and months of speculation and news of doom and gloom related to the eurozone.

How was it done? Simple – sticking to the agenda in terms of climate change, the Iran sanctions issue and the education and poverty goals. But, there was the additional discussion of ways in which to improve the sustainability of pension systems in the future and the introduction of bank levies.

Malta would have liked to have seen more time dedicated to illegal immigration, burden sharing and Frontex, but one supposes that the greater good was more important at this Council meeting.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi spoke after the summit meeting and mentioned the issue of pension reform. Malta has been told by the IMF and the European Commission that something must be done now to ensure the future sustainability of pensions. Dr Gonzi said that Malta had instituted reforms five years ago and raised retirement age to 65. Greece, he remarked, faced waves of protests when it was raised to 62. Granted – we get the picture, we managed to get through it without rioting in the streets. But it begs the question – if we raised the age to 65 five years ago, and still the EC and the IMF are telling us that the system is unsustainable in the long-term, what more can be done?

Dr Gonzi said that it is time to scrutinise the results of the reform and see whether it has borne fruit. He believes it is time to examine the issue of private pensions to run alongside the state pension system – and one would have to say that it might well and truly be the only way forward.

But – and it’s a big but – Malta seems to have weathered the storm so far and our methods have proved to work – at least for us in our very unique circumstances. In a sense, the EC and the IMF seem to be luring us into adopting the very policies which saw economies implode elsewhere. However, in saying that, it is also clear that these economies imploded due to laxness of financial regulation and greed and one cannot argue that adopting similar structures to those on the mainland would spell out our doom.

But Malta must make sure that it sticks to its guns and produces a tailor-made package to our needs.

While the principle of good governance is one which all countries should abide by – there is no hard and fast model which one can copy. France’s system would not work in Malta and vice-versa. The Task Force which is to examine our pensions system has its work cut out. And while it should embrace progressive ideas – it should never drop what is tried, tested and proven to work.