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Maltese Chairman, Core Negotiating Group addresses the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London
19/10/2001
On 19 October 2001, Richard Cachia Caruana, Chairman, Core Negotiating Group, delivered a speech at the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House in London on Malta’s European Union accession negotiations.
In an address to an audience including members of the diplomatic corps and academics, Richard Cachia Caruana outlined Malta’s progress to date. The Chairman of the Core Negotiating Group explained that:
"The negotiations may be thought of as a three-phase process. The initial stage, which covered the Portuguese and French Presidencies between February and December 2000, dealt with a first group of relatively straightforward chapters. These concerned areas where Malta was already largely in line with the acquis and where no difficulties were envisaged in achieving full harmonisation. Towards the end of 2000 we reached the second phase and began to tackle some of the more complex issues".
Richard Cachia Caruana said that:
"The first of Malta’s requests for special arrangements came up for discussion at this point. In particular, these concerned three of the Chapters dealt with during the Swedish Presidency, namely the Free Movement of Goods, Energy Policy and Free Movement of Persons. It was satisfying to note that the Union responded positively to each one of them, obviously after reasoned and detailed justifications on our part.
At the same time, the Union’s early and positive response to our requests for special arrangements demonstrated that the Maltese Government is involved in real negotiations and not in a mere formality. With the Belgian Presidency well underway Malta is now in a position to assess what is achievable during this semester, following which we will move into the final stage of the three-phase process when key financial issues will be negotiated. This last phase of negotiations will be handled under the Spanish and Danish Presidencies. At that point,the most prepared candidate states should be ready for accession".
In further explaining the negotiations process, Richard Cachia Caruana said that this takes the form of direct consultation with the European Commission. This process also depends quite significantly on bilateral relations with the various member states. He said:
"Malta is a recipient of assistance and advice from various member states, but there is no doubt that the historic links between Malta and the United Kingdom play a particular and important role in our preparations for membership. The UK-Malta Europe Action Plan was adopted in July 2000. This plan identified a number of sectors in which co-operation was to be enhanced in order to assist Malta in its preparations for EU membership. These included the environment, training of the judiciary, health and safety issues, asylum, border management and agriculture. Such assistance is of immense value to candidate states, since it would be unrealistic to expect that the responsibilities of membership could be adopted on the day of accession without adequate preparation. And Malta, as I would presume any other candidate state, is determined to be a successful member of the EU from the start."
Richard Cachia Caruana concluded his address by saying:
"Recent events on the international scene have given us pause as we reflect upon the dangers surrounding us. This will no doubt have an effect on all aspects of international activity and the EU is no exception. There are clear signs of enhanced co-operation and solidarity among present and future partners. Malta has aligned itself with all the EU’s declarations condemning the attacks on the United States and has committed its solidarity in the fight against terrorism. Indeed, these developments in themselves strengthen our belief that membership of the Union is the best way in which Malta can continue to develop into a more open, competitive country with an ever-improving quality of life for its citizens."
In a public discussion that followed, participants asked for further insight into Malta’s negotiations under the chapter on the Free Movement of Persons. Richard Cachia Caruana explained that:
"Malta will apply the acquis on the free movement of workers as from day one of membership, but, for an initial period of seven years it will have the possibility of taking remedial action in the case of any unmanageable influx. Subsequent to this seven-year period, Malta will also have the option of consulting with its partners in case any difficulties should arise".
In other questions from the participants reference was made to the position of the Malta Labour Party and the overall lack of political consensus on the issue of membership of the European Union. Richard Cachia Caruana replied that since consensus is unfortunately not possible in Parliament, the building of consensus within society is of crucial importance. The Maltese Government, he added, has been particularly conscious of the need for an extensive consultation process with all sectoral stakeholders as negotiations unfold. In this regard, Malta has established structures and processes, such as the Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee, which in some respects have attracted the interest and attention of other candidate countries.
There was also a discussion as to how Malta’s membership of the European Union will enhance dialogue between the European Union and its Mediterranean neighbours.
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