In his, and his party’s anti EU membership campaign, Alfred Sant regularly argued that the one-size-fits-all of the EU did not suit Malta at all.

Well, in some cases he may be right, though overall Malta has benefited grandly from EU membership – as have Malta’s MEPs, of whom Dr Sant is one.

One of those cases is a burning issue today – the Gozo Channel ferry operation. The EU is pressing the government to change the setup of the company, which sees the government pumping millions to keep Gozo Channel Co. solvent.

In fact, the EU wants the ferry operation to be privatised, caboodle and all.

Private operators, who would be out to make a profit, would be disastrous for the company. At least that’s how I, a layman, see it. Can you see them operating as many crossings as today, sometimes with just a hundred passengers or so, and a few cars in the cavernous car ferry garages?

At night, if it were not for the vessels’ engines, you could almost hear ice melt, custom is so rare. Would there be as many night crossings as at present?

Can you see the retention of the favourable treatment Gozo customers get? Or the treatment to those (including myself) who have an identity card with a Gozo address?

Of course, government’s hand is weakened by its stated intention to build an underwater tunnel linking Malta and Gozo. With a tunnel what need would there be for the ferries, whose crossings are sometimes stymied by stormy weather.

And what would happen to Gozo’s economy, with a calamitous drop in visitors?

Of course, government could step in and subsidise the ferry operators. They would need the millions being pumped into Gozo Channel Co. today if they want to retain the existing services and remain afloat. But I don’t want my tax money to go to private operators. And I imagine the EU would not allow state aid for the ferry company either. Why should it allow it ­– it does not mind Air Malta becoming the leaden bird the PN saw when Air Malta started flying.

The ferries are fuel-guzzlers, it is said. Fuel must be one of the costly trappings of the company. The ferries were built at a time when the climate change deniers were still having their way.

The private operators would need to do something. Replace the engines, perhaps, to make them fuel-efficient? But the vessels are over 20 years old.

Buy smaller vessels, perhaps? But the Gaudos, Malita and Ta’ Pinu still have life in them. And they are graceful craft ­– the only need there is to go up some steps – 29 in all – is if you are in the lower garage. If you are on the upper levels, there are only 14 steps to go up. Foot passengers have no steps to climb.

The Nikolaos has 42 steps for anyone in the garage and for foot passengers to go up to the cafeteria. It makes a faster ferry crossing, faster by about three minutes I think, but then much time is lost in cars making their way out ­– one at a time, compared to two on the Gozo Channel ferries.

The problem facing the government, as I see it, is not only the EU’s modus operandi. It has its political ball to play. It won Gozo from the PN I think in 2013. Whatever it does, it has not only to consider the effects on Gozo’s economy, but also its fortunes in the district.