Former labour leader and prime minister Alfred Sant has insisted that he was “never against Europe.”

Speaking during an interview on Newsbook, Dr Sant said that the decision to enter the EU has long been taken, and that there was no point dwelling on it.

Questioned about the 2003 referendum, which cemented Malta EU membership, Dr Sant described referenda as being “an awkward tool in a parliamentary democracy.”

Dr Sant insisted that the “technical advice that a partnership was the best option” was sound.

Dr Sant, who will be contesting the MEP elections next year, also insisted that Malta makes an annual loss of €60 million from its EU membership. According to him, the most that Malta has got from the EU over the past few years was “€30 to 40 million.”

He spoke up against the wave of austerity sweeping across the EU, likening it to a straitjacket.

Dr Sant said that the “one size fits all approach” to regulations is not a viable model, as the requirements of France and Germany cannot be compared to Malta. 

Dr Sant was labour party leader between 1992 and 2008. When he was elected prime minister in 1996 the labour government had put Malta's application to join the EU on hold.

In 2003, the labour party, then in opposition, had waged a campaign against Malta's membership in the run-up to a referendum on the issue. The majority of people had voted in favour of membership. Malta joined the EU in 2004.