A stronger international commitment

From its inception, the European Movement (Malta) has been affiliated to the European Movement International. Representatives of the European Movement (Malta) have attended the meetings of the Federal Council from time to time. Maltese officials of the Movement were present at Nice when the new treaty was signed and before that at the Rome and Helsinki meetings.

Our involvement in the national campaign on EU membership precluded us from participating fully during 2001 and 2002. But, following the Maltese people's decision to join the European Union, the European Movement (Malta) intends to play a more visible role in the activities of the International Movement.

It is our intention that when representatives of the Movement take part in such activities we inform our members and the public of the main outcome of these events. Today's "Our Europe" is written with that singular aim in mind.

A visit to Turkey

At the end of the Chios Federal Council of the European Movement, the participants visited the Turkish city of Izmir. They were also taken on a tour of the ruins of the ancient Hellenic-Roman city of Ephesus, which has been designated as an important Christian site by Paul VI and John Paul II who both visited the city during their pontificates.

The tomb of the Apostle St John is located close to Ephesus and according to the Acts of the Apostles, St Paul lived and preached here for some time - rather unsuccessfully.

A meeting in the Aegean

The chairman of the European Movement (Malta), Dr Roderick Pace and the secretary general, Dr Huber Dalli, attended the bi-annual meeting of the Federal Council of the European Movement which met on the Greek island of Chios, under the chairmanship of the Movement's president, Jose Maria Gil Robles (former president of the European Parliament).

The main discussion of the Federal Council focused upon a number of issues surrounding the Convention and which later appeared in the final resolution that was adopted.

The resolution highlights the following main points:

¤ That the new European Constitution must represent a step forward not backwards;

¤ It must express the wishes and aspirations of the people of Europe;

¤ Equality between women and men must be clearly stated as a fundamental value of the Union;

¤ The principle of non-discrimination (on the basis of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation) as found in the present treaties must be included in the Constitution;

¤ The abandonment of unanimity in matters of taxation and the revision procedure;

¤ The replacement of national contributions to the EU budget by the Union's "own resources"

¤ When the Constitutional draft is completed by the Convention, the national parliaments and civil society should be allowed adequate time to discuss it before it goes to the next Intergovernmental Conference;

¤ The Movement called on the governments of the member states to commit themselves to respect the results of the Convention;

¤ The Intergovernmental Conference to approve the new Constitution should complete its work before the European Council meeting scheduled for December which will conclude the Italian Presidency of the Union;

¤ The European Parliament should approve the new Constitution after the new elections of June 2004. This ensures that the election campaign will focus on the draft Constitution thus involving the people of Europe in its approval;

¤ The Constitution should come into force among those member states who have ratified it even if a limited number of member states have not done so.

The resolution was approved by simple majority of the representatives of the various national movements present, but not without disagreement. The European Movement (Malta) was against and remains sceptical about a number of points, particularly the part of the resolution calling for the Constitution to go into effect among the member states that ratify it, if a limited number of member states have not done so.

The word 'limited' is ambiguous and one wonders what would happen if this unspecified 'limited number' includes three or more large member states which together constitute a substantive number of the EU's combined population.

Such an eventually may also lead to a new split in Europe between those who ratify and those who do not, soon after celebrating its "reunification" following centuries of division. It also raises a number of other legal and political issues.

Similarly the European Movement (Malta) was against the call for the removal of unanimity in decision-making over taxation and the revision procedure. Nor was it happy with the idea of replacing national contributions by 'own resources'.

For the European Movement (Malta), the EU has a dual nature of a union of states and of peoples. Federalism is not a centralising model but one that combines a strong measure of local autonomy with some powers 'pooled' at the federal level because the tasks they aim to execute require the combined force of the member states of the federation in order to be effective.

On the other points the European Movement (Malta) was in agreement. A call in the initial draft resolution to allow the Convention to continue with its work beyond the forthcoming European Council in Thessalonica this month was dropped.

The same happened to an amendment calling for one-tenth of the European Parliamentary seats to be elected by a Europe-wide constituency. For the European Movement (Malta) this represents a further erosion of the position of small states within the Parliament.

The Federal Council rejected a call that referenda be held simultaneously in all the member states on the draft Constitution. The European Movement (Malta) argued during the meeting that each member state must be allowed to follow its own Constitutional procedure and to decide for itself how it wants to involve its own citizens in the ratification process.

We support direct democracy and referenda. But such democratic instruments cannot be forced upon member states.

Again, the issue is one which is intimately linked to the concept of federalism which by definition seeks as much as possible to safeguard the autonomy and identity of the constituent parts (states) particularly where it is not necessary that they pool or centralise their powers or authority.

EU-Malta relations in Athens

On their return trip to Malta, the officials of the European Movement (Malta) made a brief stopover in Athens where Dr Roderick Pace gave a talk on EU-Malta relations at EKEM, the Hellenic Centre for European Studies.

EKEM was established in 1988 as an independent research centre under the institutional supervision of Greece's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its president is Professor P.C. Ioakimidis of the University of Athens.

Dr Pace's presentation focused on the characteristics of Maltese domestic politics and their links with foreign policy. On Malta's relations with the European Union, Dr Pace dwelt upon some of the economic and political implications, the main issues in the run up to the membership campaigns, the implications of the March referendum and the April general election and domestic political developments since then which impinge upon Malta's EU membership.

The chairman of the European Movement (Malta) stressed the acute need for a small country like Malta to maximise all its human resources by uniting them, since in a small country they are by that very token extremely limited.

Building consensus is often more useful than confrontation in most political systems. In the case of small states this is even more important and the lack of it leads to economic and political setbacks.

In a question and answer session chaired by Dr Stelios Stavridis of EKEM, Dr Pace replied to questions and comments on Maltese attitudes towards neutrality, the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), the Convention on the new European Constitution, and institutional structures so far proposed and discussed within this Convention, particularly the Presidency of the EU.

Other questions raised focused on Malta's neutrality, its attitude towards NATO's "Partnership for Peace" and the Alliance's "Mediterranean Dialogue".

The Mediterranean Commission

At Chios, the first meeting of a newly formed Mediterranean Commission of the European Movement International was formed. The European Movement (Malta) has joined the Commission and is prepared to actively participate in its work.

The Federal Council approved a resolution in which it not only endorsed the formation of this commission but also stressed a number of important issues crucial to the further development of EU-Mediterranean relations.

The European Movement recognised the importance of mutual understanding between the societies and cultures of the Mediterranean region, calling it an immense and urgent fundamental basis to promote economic links and the free circulation of people and ideas in the region.

Euro-Mediterranean co-operation needs to continue to be strengthened on a bilateral and regional basis mindful of the process of globalisation.

The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership launched in Barcelona in 1995 has not met all aspirations, mainly due to the Palestinian conflict. But there is no better initiative which can replace it.

The commission is chaired by Charles Ferdinand Nothomb a former Belgian Minister. The Maltese European Movement is a member of the commission and of its working group. The next meeting of the commission is scheduled for Rome in December.

The commission has also prepared a 14-point plan of action which it plans to pursue.