As many of you know, house visits are at the essence of every electoral campaign and the European Parliament election campaign is undoubtedly no exception. The reason is a very simple one. In the comfort of their houses, people tend to be very direct and that gives to us politicians a very faithful picture of the public sentiment. As a candidate for the said European Parliament election, I pay visits to numerous households everyday but at times, the message which comes through is a worrying one. It seems that some Maltese have started to raise doubts on whether the EU is still a golden opportunity for us.  

The question which follows is of course why. In my opinion, there is no straight-forward answer to this question. The reasons are various and in this article, I will attempt to address some of them.

An obvious reason is definitely the lack of information about the EU. This might sound very strange, because in this day and age, information flows from everywhere and hence, it is very hard to argue that information is not available. In fact, it is not the availibility that is being questioned, but the will of the people to access the information. More often than not, people tend to access information which is closely related to their reality. Now, although Malta has been an EU member for the last ten years, it seems to me that people continue to perceive the EU and its institutions as concepts that are distant from their reality. Consequently, they lose interest and fail from keeping themselves informed.

All this induced me to set as my number one priority if elected, the need to bring the EU and its institutions closer to the people. I believe that such can be achieved through more consultation with the Maltese and a stronger effort to ensure that the decisions and laws that are adopted at EU level reflect their needs and aspirations.

Another reason is the perception of a number of Maltese, that our country did not benefit from EU membership as much as it was expected. This perception is in part wrong, because in just a decade, Malta received funds amounting to almost two and a half billion Euros and saw certain sectors of its economy grow substantially. However, the perception is also in part right. Why do I say so?

Let us for instance take the EU’s internal market. The right to participate freely within this market was in my opinion the most important benefit derived by Malta upon becoming an EU Member State. In fact, upon accession, Malta’s market was no longer Malta only, but became the whole of the EU. In other words, Malta’s market was no longer one of 400,000 potential customers, but became one of over half a billion. Consequently, the opportunities for Malta, especially in so far as trade is concerned, grew sensibly.

Nevertheless, ten years after accession, many seem to think that Malta has not as yet penetrated the EU’s internal market as much as it ought to. This induced me to set one other priority which I want to focus on if elected. I want to help Malta overcome the barriers which to date hinder it from benefitting to the full from the EU’s internal market. Such is of crucial importance, because Malta will then have the possibility to attract new investments and consequently create new jobs, which as we all know is its everlasting challenge.

Apart from the economic well-being, I also believe that in 2003, the Maltese decided to join the EU because they saw it as an opportunity to improve their social well-being. In fact, many Maltese knew that the EU dedicates a lot of attention to the weaker categories of the society in an effort to raise the quality of life. Hence, the Maltese had high expectations in this respect and rightly so. However, such expectations were not always met and the reason is a very simple one. Unfortunately, many Maltese just do not know what their rights are and what opportunities are available to them. Consequently, a number of Maltese end up facing hardships uselessly and such is not exceptable. This is a lacuna which definitely needs to be addressed and indeed I set this as a priority that I will be working on if elected to the European Parliament.

One last reason which in my opinion makes the Maltese doubt on whether the EU is still an opportunity is the financial crisis which hit many Member States throughout the past few years. The horrifying stories ofcountries which literally risked bankruptcy did not help the image of the EU as one of the strong economies of the world.

Now, I firmly believe that the cause of this crisis is the neglect in which European values fell in the past years. Such shows that values are not an anachronistic issue. Values are essentially about what’s right and what’s wrong and this is also what the EU was built on. So, if we really want a strong EU, we have to look after such values and give them the attention they deserve. Given the importance of this matter, I will, if elected, definitely stress on the importance that decisions and legislation adopted by the European Parliament uphold European values.

In any case, the guiding principle should always be one. It is absolutely fundamental that we continue to portray EU membership as a golden opportunity for Malta, because it is truly so. Naturally, such an opportunity will only come to fruition with a lot of hard work and a firm belief in the European project. Therefore, it is a must that on the 24th of May, the electorate chooses the six European Parliament Members who are best-suited to carry out this job.

Dr. Kevin Cutajar is a PN candidate for the European Parliament election

Email. [email protected]

Website. www.kevincutajar.com