It may be Tonio Borg who will be facing questions by MEPs this afternoon, but if the criticism he has received is any indication, it might feel like our “values” are being put to the test.

This criticism has mainly focused on his positions and past statements on divorce, abortion and gay rights. But while Dr Borg may be a conservative voice in Parliament, he does not exactly stick out like a sore thumb.

While his nomination receives considerable support locally, Dr Borg has received little support beyond our shores. One lone voice in his defence is European Dignity Watch, a lobby group which describes itself as pro-family and pro-life – read anti-gay rights and anti-abortion.

EDW has insisted that the criticism had nothing to do with the portfolio Dr Borg would assume, but it is wrong on at least one count. Abortion may be at the heart of an ongoing moral crusade in Malta, but it is an uncontroversial element of public health policy in most of Europe.

For instance, the World Health Organisation believes preventing unsafe abortions is a far greater priority than eliminating abortion, although it argues – and statistics back its claim – that increasing access to contraception will ultimately reduce abortion. The European Commission Dr Borg is hoping to join provides development funds to organisations which provide safe abortion services, such as Marie Stopes International, although this aid falls under a different portfolio.

Dr Borg may be particularly forceful about this issue – which may explain why it wasn’t brought up when Joe Borg and John Dalli faced hearings – but ultimately, his position is that of all Maltese political parties. Abortion is formally opposed by all of our MPs and MEPs, and is theoretically banned even in cases where the mother’s life is at risk.

There is some more debate on gay rights, of course – locally and overseas – and divorce was ultimately introduced on the strength of a referendum last year. But having nearly half the population and a sizeable proportion of MPs believe that it is entirely normal to reject the introduction of a legal mechanism to dissolve a broken marriage in an EU member state in 2011 had also showed how Malta, in some aspects, is a European oddity. It had also drawn international attention to this fact, as the run-up to today’s hearing has done.

Many Maltese may have believed – as Pope Benedict XVI himself stressed when he visited in 2010 – that Malta could serve as a moral example for the rest of Europe to follow. But Europe’s reaction has generally been the diplomatic equivalent of the stickers many Maltese attach by their doorbell asking Jehovah’s Witnesses not to knock.

In fact, as should have been expected, the opposite has been happening, with Europe increasingly influencing our stances on social issues. It is highly doubtful that divorce would even come close to being approved in a referendum prior to EU membership.

Nevertheless, it seems that we are still in the process of realising that Maltese values and those of the rest of Europe are not exactly alike. And while we do, Dr Borg’s role as a flag-bearer for the former may see the European Parliament reject him for a perceived incompatibility with the latter.