Malta stamps catalogue

I would like to reply to two items carried in The Times.

Emanuel R. Mallia of Msida suggested that the Europa issue scheduled for May 9 should depict events which led Malta to obtain membership of the European Union.

For your readers' information, the Europa set, issued annually on May 9 to coincide with Europe Day, bears no direct relation to the European Union. The Europa issue was created as a joint issue in 1949, when the European Council promoted the idea to symbolise its shared interests and objectives.

The first Europa stamps were issued by six countries in 1956 and three years later a number of countries founded the CEPT, a French acronym for the European postal and telecommunications organisation, whose fundamental concept was to reinforce relations between member postal administrations. From that moment on, a set of Europa stamps was issued every year, each year with a common theme chosen by PostEurop.

Last year's theme was 'Circus'. Malta's stamp, from a photograph by international photographer Gino Theuma and a design by Roberta Zahra, was chosen as the best stamp out of 44 entries. This year's theme is 'Poster art', and Malta's contribution is two lovely stamps designed by Debbie Caruana Dingli. Next year's theme is 'Gastronomy'.

The particulars of the Europa stamps remain the same - a single issue per year, on or around May 9 ; a common theme among all issuing countries; a unique philatelic product; an unequalled scale of issues all over Europe; an extremely collectible issue; promotion of the idea of European unity and integration.

The 'On the Dot' column referred to the recent St George paintings stamp issue, which was described as "a combination coup of devotion and salesmanship", and suggested Maltapost should consider issuing a similar set to commemorate the feast of St Paul next year.

By way of information, St George, being venerated in a number of countries like Russia, England and Italy, besides Malta, we thought it would be a good idea to promote our St George works of art (among them no less than three Pretis!) in other countries, given the wide dissemination of Malta stamps. Furthermore, this year is also the 17th centenary of the saint's martyrdom. I am glad to state that this idea, coming from a member of the Stamp Design Advisory Board, himself a philatelist of repute and an international judge, was accepted with pleasure. The results speak for themselves.

As to St Paul, the island's patron saint - the good St Paul has not exactly been forgotten. A quick glance through any catalogue of Malta stamps will show the following issues dedicated to or featuring St Paul: 1899, 1919, 1922 (twice), 1927, 1928, 1930, 1948, 1956, 1960, 1965, 1967, 1990, 2001. Issue details would tend to lengthen this letter unnecessarily. Need I say more?

I take the opportunity to remind philatelists and the public that ideas for stamp issue subjects are always very welcome and should be sent to the chairman, Stamp Design Advisory Board, Maltapost plc, 305, Qormi Road, Marsa GPO 01.