Dishonest proposal

It is an understatement to say that it is irresponsible for a political party and its leader to spread misinformation. It's even worse when such a wrongdoing is carried out on the eve of a general election.

The proposal of reopening negotiations with the European Union Opposition Leader Alfred Sant is making is no more than another attempt at deceiving the Maltese society.

This statement has been widely challenged not only by political quarters in Malta but also within the European Union. The latest of these reproaches comes from the European Commission Secretariat-General office, which deals with the day-to-day running of the European institutions.

In a statement this office clearly says that a country cannot amend the Accession Treaty. I quote: "A country cannot unilaterally amend an agreement that was concluded between itself as an applicant state and the member states of the union".

This confirms the dishonest manner in which the Malta Labour Party is conducting this electoral campaign, which the Maltese socialists are basing on mud slinging and empty promises.

The statement by the European Commission Secretariat-General office follows statements made by European commissioners and members of the European Parliament.

A spokesman for the Agriculture Commissioner Marianne Fisher Boel, in a statement published on The Sunday Times on February 10, said it was impossible for the Commission to consider Dr Sant's and the MLP's plans to renegotiate Malta's agricultural package.

He said that "what is agreed in the Accession Treaty is a done deal... Of course, policy changes happen all the time and Malta has the possibility to influence that process. Sometimes, member states can win some little 'sweeteners' in the negotiating process during reform discussions".

What amazes me is the fact that when the MLP was given every opportunity to take part in the negotiations prior to our country's accession to the EU it refused to participate and contribute for the benefit of our country and our society. Now, more than four years later, it is saying it wants to re-open negotiations.

That opportunity is now gone and we are looking ahead to achieve more for all. We cannot wait for the Leader of the Opposition in order to act and to make the best of these opportunities. We must grasp opportunities; Dr Sant did not take the opportunity.

If the MLP wanted to negotiate, it had every possibility to do so in the 22 months of a Labour government. Instead of freezing the negotiations, Labour could have discussed and negotiated.

The EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana also ruled out the renegotiation of the Accession Treaty. This is another echo of the statements made by European commissioners who declared it would be impossible for the MLP, if elected, to renegotiate conditions on agriculture and shipyards laid down in the Accession Treaty, as Dr Sant has pledged to do.

His proposals have set off alarms not only in Malta but also in the corridors of the European Parliament in Brussels. Several MEPs condemned this proposal and described it as impossible, dangerous, absurd, dishonest and a huge mistake.

This proposal, apart from putting our EU membership in jeopardy, risks affecting our credit rating that will discourage foreign investors from choosing Malta as their operations base, something that would have a negative bearing on the economic and political development of our country.

I quote from the statement made by Slovak MEP Jan Huadacky: "It is impossible. This means a step backwards for Malta because Malta will lose in its credit rating, which means a lot for investors. This would send out a bad sign for investors. Therefore, it would mean a step backward for the economic and social development of Malta".

The Maltese electorate must be aware of what such promises are really all about. Such proposals are nothing but statements aimed at obtaining political gain from them. The proposal is no more than an attempt to win votes.

We must look forward and continue building on what we achieved together during the past years. Malta must continue to strengthen its positive reputation. The proposal to renegotiate the Accession Treaty is reminiscent of what happened in 1996 when the MLP froze the negotiations with the EU. It was only thanks to the PN in government, re-elected just 22 months later, that Malta was able to reactivate the accession talks. Not without hard work and a huge dose of politics of persuasion by President Emeritus Guido de Marco, then Minister for Foreign Affairs.

This idea is nothing else then a dishonest proposal. I would like to remind Dr Sant and the MLP that the EU is not a switch- on-switch-off affair.

Mr Casa is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament.

david.casa@europarl.europa.eu, www.davidcasa.eu