Next week will see Joseph Muscat represent Malta at the European Council – the gathering of Heads of Governments of the European Union. 

After his last European Council, our Prime Minister tried to sell us the yarn that the upcoming Council would, on his say-so, have migration as one of the main points on the agenda. The truth is that this Council will deal primarily with Defence and Economic policy, and migration has been relegated to one of the ‘other issues’. It has clearly shown that Joseph Muscat’s boast that he made Europe “smell the coffee” was an idle one at best.

It tells you all you need know about our Prime Minister. He shows bravado here in Malta, when public emotion is running high, but is then meek where and when it matters. He has put himself under tremendous pressure to get some results, but will cover his failure by deflecting attention on to some other matter still being spun at the Mile-End web.

We have done a lot of work in the European Parliament, paving the way for him by managing to convince a cross-party majority of MEPs to agree to a resolution that recognises the efforts of Malta’s population in dealing with immigration, and that relocation of beneficiaries of international protection from Malta is one of the most concrete forms of solidarity and responsibility-sharing. It underlines the importance of responsibility-sharing in the field of asylum, and recommends creating a mechanism based on objective criteria to reduce the pressure on member states receiving higher numbers of asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection, in either absolute or proportional terms.

The Parliament has recognised Malta’s unique situation and has called for action. Will Joseph Muscat manage to convince other member states to follow our lead and to translate our efforts into concrete action? Does he have the personality to be listened to and to be taken seriously by other Heads of Government?   

Recent events indicate otherwise. The truth is that, after his hollow threat of illegal pushbacks in the summer, and the on-going fiasco surrounding his ill-fated passports-for-sale scheme, Joseph Muscat lacks the credibility among other member states to make any sort of difference. As he is quickly beginning to realise, spin will only get you so far.

Can you imagine our Prime Minister trying to argue credibly that Malta needs assistance and concrete solidarity because our systems are under pressure and that we are too small to offer migrants a future in Malta, when he has just returned from a passport-touting spree in London and Miami?

This scheme has shot Malta in the foot, weakened our arguments, damaged our credibility and made Malta a laughing stock around the world. It is an outright national embarrassment.  

This is why all the political groups – including his own Socialists – in the European Parliament have agreed that ‘EU Citizenship for Sale’ will be one of the big debates at the next plenary session in January.

It should never have come to this. It is not surprising however, especially after Edward Scicluna’s poor performance, where he himself said that if he were an MEP, he would also not expect this from Malta and ask about the scheme. It is no wonder then that MEPs from all bands of the European political spectrum have demanded a discussion in plenary.

The Labour Party’s reaction was as expected – unfounded allegations of nationalist conspiracies and other wildly concocted theories, showing clear signs of ‘Mintoffian eighties politik’ influence. They seem to be totally unaware that the European Socialists have agreed to have this debate in Parliament, and so they issued a statement claiming that the debate is wrong and goes against the national interest.

The furore surrounding this scheme will not let up. It will continue to be a main story for the world’s press and will continue to batter our country. This Government must realise that it will continue to damage Malta’s reputation as long as this scheme, as steamrolled over the will of the absolute majority of the Maltese people, and through the highest institution of the land – our Parliament – is still on the books.

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