From Eurosceptic to Euro-Enthusiast Politics: How Maltese Euroscepticism Has Struggled in the Face of Economic Prosperity

Malta joined the European Union in 2004 after a protracted application process which included a suspension of its application from 1996 to 1998. This reflected the fact that EU membership had become a divisive issue in this two-party state with the socialists against Malta joining the EU and 48% of the electorate rejecting membership in the 2003 referendum. This left-wing based Euroscepticism was not surprising, reflecting opposition to neo-liberal economics seen across several EU Mediterranean states, especially Portugal and Greece, as well as concerns regarding the compatibility between EU membership and Malta’s constitutional neutrality. As with Portugal and Greece, this opposition to the EU quickly dissipated after membership. Since then, party Euroscepticism can be said to be virtually non-existent, the Socialists having become Euro-enthusiasts, though a small but persistent degree of popular Euroscepticism remains and both main parties have fringe elements which struggle with EU membership. However, unlike other EU Mediterranean states, Malta did not experience any major fall-out from the 2008 financial crisis and its membership of the euro has been stable with the country enjoying some of the highest growth rates in the Union. Not surprisingly, Malta did not see the emergence of austerity-related Euroscepticism after the crisis though a heavy influx of foreign nationals, from Africa and the EU, saw immigration become the key concern of the Maltese according to Eurobarometer surveys with the consequence that Malta saw the emergence of anti-immigrant, often anti-EU parties on the fringe of the party system. In this article we will analyse why party and popular Euroscepticism remains low, how the anti-EU fringe elements within both main parties has been controlled and how the persistent thread of popular Eurosceptic feeling has shifted over time before analysing how stable is the low level of Euroscepticism in Malta, especially as the country faces the challenge of becoming a net-contributor to the EU budget as well as EU-related threats to its economic system, especially EU efforts to force tax harmonisation across the Union.