{"id":2601,"date":"2019-05-22T11:46:50","date_gmt":"2019-05-22T09:46:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/?post_type=article&p=2601"},"modified":"2019-05-22T11:46:50","modified_gmt":"2019-05-22T09:46:50","slug":"malta-u-l-ue-15-il-sena-ta-shubija","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/article\/malta-u-l-ue-15-il-sena-ta-shubija\/","title":{"rendered":"Malta and the EU \u2013 15 years of accession"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Malta has come a long way si<\/span>nce joining the European Union\u00a0<\/span>on May\u00a0<\/span>1,\u00a0<\/span>2004.\u00a0<\/span>A massive change has been witnessed in Malta when compared to the pre-accession referendum,<\/span>\u00a0which portrayed a\u00a0<\/span>deeply\u00a0<\/span>divided Malta.\u00a0<\/span>In fact,\u00a0<\/span>proof of the positive change that saw the majority of Maltese citizens endorse the EU over time, is the fact that\u00a0<\/span>even at the height of the 2009 economic crisis,\u00a0<\/span>a\u00a0<\/span>survey<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>showed that majority of Maltese respondents<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>(59% to be precise) felt\u00a0<\/span>Malta\u00a0<\/span>benefit<\/span>ed from being a member of the EU<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Moreover, a<\/span>\u00a0more recent\u00a0<\/span>survey<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0held in 2018\u00a0<\/span>show<\/span>ed<\/span>\u00a0that\u00a0<\/span>78<\/span>%\u00a0<\/span>of\u00a0<\/span>Maltese citizens feel \u2018attached\u2019 to Europe<\/span>\u00a0and an astounding 82% feel that they are\u00a0<\/span>citizens of the EU<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So how has Malta remained so pro-EU? It<\/span>\u2019s probably not<\/span>\u00a0because\u00a0<\/span>citizens in Malta\u00a0<\/span>are the most knowledgeable<\/span>\u00a0on EU matters<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0as a<\/span>\u00a02018<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>survey<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>indicated<\/span>\u00a0that almost half of\u00a0<\/span>citizens living in Malta\u00a0<\/span>said<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>they\u00a0<\/span>do not really know their rights as EU citizens<\/span>\u00a0but\u00a0<\/span>rather<\/span>\u00a0because Maltese\u00a0<\/span>citizens are more aware of the benefits\u00a0<\/span>that EU membership brings about<\/span>. In fact, citizens\u00a0<\/span>in Malta\u00a0<\/span>associate the EU\u00a0<\/span>mostly\u00a0<\/span>with<\/span>\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>f<\/span>reedom to travel, study and work anywhere in the EU<\/span>, a single currency \u2013 the euro – and to having\u00a0<\/span>a stronger say in the world<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0according to a 2018\u00a0<\/span>survey<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Such figures represent a resounding\u00a0<\/span>consensus on Malta\u2019s EU membership<\/span>, at a time when nationalism and anti-establishment parties are on the rise<\/span>\u00a0in Europe<\/span>. The upcoming European elections,\u00a0<\/span>on May 25,<\/span>\u00a0represent a\u00a0<\/span>test for the EU,<\/span>\u00a0one which\u00a0<\/span>has seen\u00a0<\/span>Malta\u00a0<\/span>stand<\/span>\u00a0at the forefront,<\/span>\u00a0by<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>advocating\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>European project and pushing the European Parliament\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>thistimeimvoting<\/span>\u00a0EU-wide campaign.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you would like to know more on the EU or the upcoming European elections, please contact\u00a0<\/span>MEUSAC<\/span><\/b>\u00a0on\u00a0<\/span>2200 3300<\/span><\/b>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/span>send<\/span>\u00a0an e-mail to\u00a0<\/span>info.meusac@gov.mt<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Malta has come a long way since joining the European Union\u00a0on May\u00a01,\u00a02004.\u00a0A massive change has been witnessed in Malta when compared to the pre-accession referendum,\u00a0which portrayed a\u00a0deeply\u00a0divided Malta.\u00a0In fact,\u00a0proof […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2594,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"spay_email":""},"issuem_issue":[111],"issuem_issue_categories":[14],"issuem_issue_tags":[],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"2.8.8","language":"en","enabled_languages":["mt","en"],"languages":{"mt":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/2601"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2601"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/2601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2603,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/2601\/revisions\/2603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue?post=2601"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_categories?post=2601"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_tags?post=2601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}