Small States & the European Union – possibly lackng clout, but flourishing

"Small States and the European Union: Possibly lacking clout, but flourishing thanks to Union membership."

This seems to be the far from unanimous outcome of a public discussion with MEPs Alfred Sant and Roberta Metsola held on Friday at Europe House.

The public discussion was organised by the European Parliament Information Office, MEUSAC and the University of Malta with expert interventions by Prof. Lino Briguglio, Dr Mark Harwood and Dr Philip Von Brockdorff.

MEUSAC head, Dr Vanni Xuereb, opened the discussion by noting that Malta's flourishing economy is proof enough that Malta did not lose out as a result of its membership despite being the smallest member state. Dr Xuereb also noted the momentous opportunity around the corner with Malta chairing the Council of the European Union as from January.

Professor Lino Briguglio presented his recently published book 'Small States and the EU: Economic Perspectives' giving a perspective of 8 member states which show that overall membership ensures that economies become more open and hence more prosperous.

Briguglio however cautioned that the implementation burden from Union membership may be disproportionate on smaller states as some costs cannot be scaled down to the size of the state.

Dr Mark Harwood, director of the Institute of European Studies pointed out that smaller member states may be losing clout in the Union as they tend to rely heavily on the European Commission as an ally in legislative negotiations.

However the European Commission has, according to Harwood, lost considerable clout vis-à-vis the Council and the European Parliament thence making smaller Member States more vulnerable. Harwood also noted that in Malta's case, in particular the loss of a main ally like the UK, may be a significant blow to Malta's clout in the Council.

Dr Von Brockdorff, a member of the European Economic and Social Committee insisted that certain initiatives like the Posting of Workers Directive had negative effects on small economies. This, he said, is one of the reasons for instance, that in Britain, the vote went towards Brexit.

MEP Alfred Sant gave a scathing analysis of the Union's strengths and weaknesses vis-à-vis small states insisting that the economic model rolled out during the 1990s was successful until 2008 but did not stand the test of globalisation.

Sant pointed out that with membership Malta and other small states lost flexibility in areas like agriculture and state aid. It is indeed ironic, according to MEP Sant, that the areas where Malta is making the most of the Union is those areas which are not regulated by the Union, like financial services and online gaming.

MEP Roberta Metsola highlighted the fact that, where necessary, a small state like Malta can punch big, like in the case of Malta's success to get a sixth seat at the European Parliament. Metsola insisted that application of Union law should be compatible but we do not need clones, every Member State may adapt Union law to local needs.

Metsola pointed out the massive benefits that Malta has gathered from Union membership not least its economic growth since 2004. Metsola cautioned however on Malta's present over-reliance on vulnerable economic sectors and appealed for more effort in the diversification of the Maltese economy.

The speakers and the MEPs also reacted to questions by the public including on Brexit. Metsola highlighted that all of Europe was asking "who's next? just after the referendum, however no one asks the question now given that the UK vote is revealing the massive cost of exiting the Union and its benefits."

Sant pointed out that with regard to Brexit "we're at the beginning of the game, the distinctions between hard and soft Brexit may be irrelevant in a years' time" he said.