Six months before finishing a 10-year term as an MEP and on the eve of Malta’s 20th anniversary as a European Union member, Alfred Sant still believes that Malta made a mistake to join the bloc.
The one-size-fits-all approach that the European Union adopts is more detrimental than beneficial to Malta, he said in comments to The Malta Independent on Sunday.
As Labour Party leader, Sant had been adamantly against Malta’s European Union membership, going as far as freezing Malta’s application to join when he became Prime Minister in 1996.
Later, when again in Opposition, he advocated a special partnership rather than membership for Malta, but the “yes” campaign had won in a 2003 referendum, paving the way for Malta’s accession to the EU a year later.
Sant left the Labour leadership in 2008 but was elected as an MEP in two successive elections in 2014 and 2019. He said he will not contest again.
Ninety per cent of the population would say that Malta benefitted from European Union membership, Sant said, adding that he is in the minority on this subject.
It is not a matter of the European Union being inherently bad, he said, but rather that many of the rules at European level don't apply well to Malta.
Sant said that, for starters, the EU membership has distorted Malta’s economic structure, “in the sense that it ended up being too much oriented on services, financial services, iGaming and tourism”.
He said that this happened because these are the major sectors which are not regulated by the EU.
Sant said that “the European Parliament wastes a lot of time … we talk so that we would have talked”. He explained that in such instances the inputs are “far from the practical reality lived by the people”.
He said that despite the concepts being good, when it comes to applying them “they are not so much close to the people”.
“I believe that this is a big problem and so in this parliament one feels that there is a lot of work to be done for the sake of it being done, with many aspirations that are not realistic as the essential responsibilities remain in the hands of the State.”
Sant explained that in implementing the European standard Malta faces problems because of a “one-size-fits-all approach” in certain categories.
For example, one of the latest initiatives to tackle climate change is the new EU Emissions Trading System. The MEP said that the way the European Union is insisting on its implementation process “is not fair on small nations”.
The ETS is an environmental tax which needs to be paid by shipping companies who enter European ports. But this effectively means that ports in North African nations will have an advantage over European ports, including Malta Freeport, because their services will be cheaper. Pressure on the European Union to postpone the implementation of the system, which comes into force next year, has so far failed.
Another initiative, known as “kerosene tax”, aims to tax airplanes flying within the European zone. The application of this directive means that transcontinental flights are not going to be taxed.
In this regard, Sant said that Malta is greatly disadvantaged, when compared to other countries, as it is heavily reliant on the tourism sector (as many tourists come by air transport). Moreover, air transport is also used for imports and exports of products.
He said that, for example, France is not going to be heavily affected by such tax as it has 60% of its tourism by road.
Malta’s neutrality, as established by the Constitution, might also be jeopardised as the EU continues to pressure for a security and defence policy.
Sant said that the majority of member states want such a policy, even more so now given that even neutral countries like Finland joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization earlier this year and the fact that the United Kingdom has left the EU.
The MEP was also asked about the Labour party’s prospects to maintain its current four seats at the European Parliament. Sant believes that the party has a good chance, saying that the PL has been focusing on certain matters which are closely related to Malta and has been very positive overall.
Sant believes that the biggest issue for the coming European elections is to get people out to vote.