On 1 May, Malta celebrated 10 years of EU membership. On the day, we ran a leading article in which we stated, black on white, that the good far outweighs the bad in being part of Europe’s unique experiment in democracy.

The EU is not only gearing up for its parliamentary elections, but it will also be holding a vote for the next European Commission President. The two candidates from the centre right and centre left parties are former Luxembourg President Jean Claude Juncker and Martin Schultz.

Yesterday, Mr Juncker paid a visit to Malta and said that he understood Malta’s problems in facing the problems that arise as a result of irregular migration. He said that while it would not be easy to rope in northern European countries, they had to start doing their bit. “No more empty promises on the issue,” he said.

In that same leading article of 1 May, we said that while the EU has shown solidarity with many member states in times of financial crisis, there was a lot left to be desired in the way it helped Italy and Malta in facing a true human crisis.

Mr Juncker said that the issue would be put at the top of the agenda. We certainly hope so... far too many people have died and we have witnessed a human catastrophe first hand. Mr Juncker also warned Malta that despite it having one of the lowest rates of unemployment in Europe, it was creeping up and should the 6.8% figure hit 7.5% “there is no going back”. Of course, he is right, but he is even more correct in warning us about our deficit and debt rates. Of course, there was some electioneering, with Mr Juncker saying that some people in Malta were not always in favour of EU membership and now were pretending that they are – an obvious jibe at the Labour Prime Minister.

Mr Juncker is a capable man with a very wry and dry sense of humour. He has chaired countless summits and on one occasion, when the Dutch were blocking an EU budget from being passed he eventually gave a press conference when agreement was reached. His microphone malfunctioned; he lifted it up, looked at it and said... “Hmmmmm... Philips”.

It is still too early in the day to say who will get the top post, but both candidates are top notch. While Mr Juncker is a christian democrat, Mr Schultz is a very close personal friend of Dr Muscat. One wonders whether the more familial of the two might be a better bet for Malta...