We have accomplished a lot since we joined the EU. And, with some exceptions, we have demonstrated a formidable ability to protect our strategic interests and punch well above our weight. But the EU is changing and we must continue to lead in shaping it or risk prejudicing our influence within it.
Our track record speaks for itself. When the Labour Party opposed our accession bid over 20 years ago, it warned us that we would be small fry, quickly to be gobbled up by the big fish of the European Union.
How wrong we proved them. I was the first Maltese politician to represent our country on the European Parliament’s Bureau. And I stepped aside without hesitation to ensure Roberta Metsola would secure her place at its helm.
Far from being eclipsed by the larger powers, we ensured that Malta’s voice became stronger than ever. We didn’t use that voice to defend the corrupt establishment that hijacked one institution after another to secure its own impunity. We’ve used it to ensure that the European Parliament remained firmly on the side of the people of Malta and Gozo and against those who robbed them blind. But we’ve achieved a lot in terms of laws and rights too.
I am proud of what we have delivered in recent years. We led the charge on social rights, dramatically increasing the rights of parents and carers. We secured the mobilisation of over a quarter of a billion euros to support Maltese families and workers through funds for which I was responsible. And we increased the rights of persons with disabilities.
On democracy, we finally have an Anti-SLAPP Directive to protect journalists from abusive legal action and, thus, our access to information. We have a Media Freedom Act to ensure editorial independence, transparency in advertising using public funds and combat the hijacking of the public broadcaster. And we’ve created the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism so that others may be inspired by Daphne’s courage in holding power to account.
I would have liked to campaign on the basis of what I brought to the table during my tenure as an MEP, how to build on it and my vision for the Union we must work to see in the future. But, instead, this campaign and the country generally have been derailed by the nauseating and seemingly interminable scandals that are reminiscent of some of the more creative Netflix crime series Joseph Muscat claims he is now unable to watch.
I will not yield an inch when it comes to respect for the rule of law and the attacks on our institutions- David Casa
What is all the more baffling is that we appear to be living in some bizarre alternate reality where those who work against the daylight robbery of the Maltese people are labelled traitors and enemies of the State. All the while, the thieves and their accomplices are meant to be the victims of an all-powerful, nebulous and elusive fiction dubbed ‘the Establishment’.
You really couldn’t make it up if you tried. But here is my pledge to readers. I will work hard to enact legislation that has a concrete, positive impact on the lives of citizens and build on what I have delivered in recent years. But I will also not yield an inch when it comes to the respect for the rule of law and the attacks on our institutions.
And that means that we need to ramp up our efforts to ensure that EU scrutiny is commensurate with the gravity of the situation we are facing. Despite what Labour claims, I have exercised restraint in the past. I will not shy away from ensuring more robust and concrete consequences should the present assault on our democracy continue.
Five years ago, we came before you and asked that you place your faith in us to represent you to very best of our abilities in the European Parliament. I hope that we have delivered, and, next week, we will ask you to give us the privilege of representing you once more and of being your strength in Europe.
David Casa is a Nationalist Party MEP and a candidate for the European Parliament elections.