Understanding what’s at stake – AN’s European agenda
John Spiteri Gingell Were it for not for the constant institutionalised propaganda and the general lack of understanding of the way the European Union works and its ultimate goal of creating a federal superstate, Malta’s EU honeymoon period would have been distinctively shorter.
Still, more and more citizens are awakening to the fact that by far the greater part of our legislation no longer has anything to do with us. Much of it is decided in Brussels, It is imposed on us by way of statutory instruments and diktats drafted by anonymous officials.
Many are beginning to openly question the moot point: what’s the role of our National parliament in the greater scheme of things? What’s the point of electing 65 MPs (not to mention 68 mayors) when arguably they are now proportionally responsible for less legislation compared to their predecessors under the British Crown?
This is the crux of the matter – how do the Maltese wish to be governed? Do they still want the power to decide on matters that affect them, such as illegal immigration and economic policy, or do they want to surrender these powers to a remote and ultimately unaccountable governing body? Do they want to retain their independence or do they want their country reduced to the status of a local council in a state called the European Union?
Real sovereignty does not come from symbolic but futile posturing such as laying wreaths on monuments, but from the power of the people to govern themselves.
AN is therefore against the transfer of more political powers to Brussels. The EU is only four steps from becoming a state: it needs a Constitution, a President, a Diplomatic Corps and a Supreme Court, all of which will be established with the Lisbon Treaty.
The fact that the Maltese public have been denied a proper explanation of a treaty of such momentous consequences let alone the opportunity to give their consent is nothing short of treacherous.
AN’s long term agenda in the EP is first and foremost to collaborate with those who oppose further political integration and want to work towards an alternative model of Europe based on a looser and more flexible structure, reduced bureaucracy and greater transparency and accountability. A union which truly respects subsidiarity and therefore rejects centralisation and the ‘one size fits none’ approach.
AN’s short term agenda is simpler – to collaborate with anyone who upholds our national interest, and oppose those who undermine it. It is to collaborate with those who promote work and the generation of wealth, and to oppose those who want to rule by regulation. It is to work with those who, like us, believe that a common repatriation agreement on illegal immigration is a more sensible and therefore more plausible solution than burden sharing, because AN will simply not rest before every person who has entered our country illegally is repatriated.
In a nutshell, AN’s European agenda is about restoring Malta’s sovereignty to where it rightfully belongs: with its people.
John Spiteri Gingell is AN’s information Secretary
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