‘Forget the past, look ahead’ – Alfred Sant

The man who 10 years ago vehemently opposed Malta's EU membership and will forever be remembered for his 'partnership' politics today said the country should "forget the past and look ahead at making the most out of EU membership."

Former Labour Prime Minister Alfred Sant, who in 2003 refused to recognise the clear referendum result in favour of EU accession and insisted that a general election alone should settle the EU membership issue, is standing for next year's European Parliament elections on the Labour ticket.

Addressing a public lecture on the EU and Malta, the enigmatic Sant this morning said that in 2003 the Labour Party had pitted its wits against a government which mobilised all available resources to convince the people to vote in favour of membership, and perplexingly claimed that Labour "accepted the people's verdict."

"However, now its useless analysing who was right or wrong, it does not make any sense. What we need to do now is maximise the advantages of membership and mitigate disadvantages," Sant said during the lecture organised by the General Workers Union' Reggie Miller Foundation.

Asked what his platform would be for next year's European election, Sant was adamant that he was not there to promote his personal campaign, however the man who was Prime Minister between 1996 and 1998, explained that Malta should strive towards a common EU policy on migration, refuse the one size fits all policies and improve the administration of EU funds.

On migration, Sant said that Malta cannot face the issue alone or by signing bilateral agreements,  "but we need a common European policy to deal with the problem."

Sant also expressed his opposition to the creation of a federal Europe, stressing that this went aginst the nature of Europe which was always made up of independent nation states. He also stressed that the one-size fits all policies should be replaced by policies which take into consideration the different realities of separate member states.

He also argued that although Malta was a net beneficiary, the mismanagement of EU funds had led the country to pay more than it receives in EU funds in the last few years.

Noting that the new Labour government was addressing the situation, Sand said that setting up an administrative structure which deals with EU funds and the management of projects should be a national priority.

Citing the suspension of EU educational funds after a series of shortcomings were flagged by the EU, Sant said that such mismanagement was "unacceptable."

"We need to Improve our administrative structures to avoid losing funds and make better use of the funds available."

Sant blamed the 2008 on the greedy free market disciples and argued that the recession which crippled the EU had also affected Malta's economy.

Describing Malta as "Europe's online Atlantic City," Sant said Malta's post-accession economy was mainly based on financial services and iGaming, but construction, agriculture and tourism had suffered a blow just as the rest of Europe did.

Pointing out that investment in Malta dried up during the last 10 years, Sant argued that the country avoided entering into a recession because the banks were prudent and were not exposed to unnecessary risks.

"Although we enjoyed a minimal rate of economic growth, society is split into two tiers, one were people and firms are doing very well and another tier made up of people and firms who are doing badly; financially and socially"

Arguing that the middle class was feeling the squeeze, Sant said that Malta's aim should be that of "making itself attractive to attract foreign investment," and distribute "the weights and the benefits of EU membership more equally in society."