Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1034189
28 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 SEPTEMBER 2018 OPINION Raphael Vassallo 'You can't renegotiate EU membership'. Oh wait, maybe you can… A couple of weeks ago I wrote a piece about why Malta needs to unite behind a Maltese candidate for the presidency of the European Commission: a vacancy that will become open around June next year. As there was (and still is) only one realistic candidate for that job, the feedback I received was instantly channelled along the usual, predictable (and utterly idiotic) partisan lines we have come to expect in this politi- cally sick country of ours. Fine. That was what I fully expected and intended anyway. Nonetheless, it was from the outset a gratuitous assumption that the candidate I had in mind could only have been Joseph Muscat. I made that clear enough in the original article, by specifying that it would have to be someone who is commit- ted to defending Malta's right to exist… which, in case, I didn't spell it out clearly enough two weeks ago, is currently under direct threat from political forces seeking to transform the EU in to a unified, centralised State in its own right. This is perhaps where I made a mistake in mentioning Mus- cat by name. At the time I felt he met the necessary criteria for that role. Today, however – having been given a glimpse as to Muscat's actual vision for the future of Europe – I am no longer that certain. This week, Malta's Prime Minister put his name to an open letter entitled 'Wake Up Europe!", also signed by Italy's former prime minister Matteo Renzi; Guy Verhofstadt, presi- dent of ALDE Group in the Eu- ropean Parliament; Alexander Pechtold, leader of Democrats 66, The Netherlands; and various other representatives of (mostly liberal/centre left) European political parties. It was supposed to unfold not only a 'clear vision' for the fu- ture of the EU… but also a 'clear method' whereby this vision could be actuated. I guess it says something about the 'clarity' of both vision and method that I am none the wiser as to what these people want, and how they intend to achieve it, after reading the article than before. But don't take my word for it. Take theirs. Here are a few choice excerpts: starting with the first sentence. "In 1918, Europe emerged exhausted from a bloody war that took so many lives without addressing the tensions at the heart of the conflict. In 1939, a new conflict broke out against a backdrop of crisis and the rise of fascism…" My, talk about potted history. Quite a lot happened between 1918 and 1939, you know… and some of it was directly relevant to the 'rise of fascism' in the 1920s. One rather glaring oc- currence took the form of the Versailles Treaty, which was clearly aimed at weakening, demoralising and humiliating Germany: possibly to make an example for the benefit of other countries which might (as in fact some were) be toying with 'global domination' ambitions of their own. Well, you don't need me to tell you that the Versailles Treaty failed spectacularly to prevent a second World War. And there are many people – myself included – who feel that it was instrumental in making that war inevitable. Naturally, it is impossible to tell what would have happened had the victori- ous nations been more forward- looking (and less vindictive) in the aftermath of WW1; but it is a dead-certainty that much of the resentment and disillusion- ment that fuelled Hitler's rise to power would not have been in place, had a little more thought been given to the consequences by the architects of that histori- cally indefensible treaty. From this perspective, I would propose a small change to the next sentence. The original is: "A century later, as our conti- nent once again faces division and resistance to change, we re- fuse to be a complacent genera- tion." I would change that to: "A century later […] we are once again making the same mistake. This time it's called 'Brexit', and among the people pushing to weaken, humiliate and demor- alise the United Kingdom – as punishment for its blasphe- mous rejection of 'the European project' [all genuflect, Amen] – are most of the signatories of this very article." Yes, indeed: and then people wonder why history repeats itself with such alarming fre- quency. Brexit may yet prove to be a cause (not the only one, perhaps, but certainly the most visible) of Europe's next major war. Not only because the rest of Europe is gleefully fanning the flames of ill-feeling against a bullied and battered individual country; but also, more worry- ingly, because the failure of any reasonable compromise can be lain directly at the EU's door. Part of the reason is, in fact, attributable to some of the same article's signatories. Separately – though they seem to agree on precious little else – both Joseph Muscat and Guy Verhofstadt are on record saying that Britain cannot get a deal which is on a par with – or, worse still, better than – full EU membership. Last year, Verhofstadt wrote in the Guardian that: "It is an illusion to suggest that the UK will be permitted to leave the EU but then be free to opt back into the best parts of the Eu- ropean project, for instance by asking for zero tariffs from the single market without accepting the obligations that come with it. I hope that British people will see from the perspective of an EU taxpayer how unreasonable this would be." Funny he should say that; I'm an EU taxpayer, and I don't see it as unreasonable at all. And if Verhofstadt actually spoke to any other EU taxpayers – in Italy, for instance, or Spain, Greece, Portugal, etc. – he might realise that not everyone is as enthusiastic as he is over the present conditions of the EU that Britain has chosen to exit. This is not surprising, be- cause the position he, Muscat and most of Europe's leaders represent is in itself highly illogical. Why shouldn't it be possible for individual countries to get a better deal out of their relationships with the EU, than membership under the present conditions? Incredibly, the only answer we've been given to date is that: 'because otherwise the EU, as we know it, would fall apart'. Erm… sorry, but all that tells me is that the If Verhofstadt actually spoke to any other EU taxpayers – in Italy, for instance, or Spain, Greece, Portugal, etc. – he might realise that not everyone is as enthusiastic as he is over the present conditions of the EU that Britain has chosen to exit