OPINION
32 ¡ MONEY
ISSUE 52
Manuel is a political blogger who writes for The Sunday Times and manueldelia.com.
BUT CAN WE POLICE IT?
There was a moment at the time when Malta was getting ready to join the European Union when a number of choices had to be made. Joining the EU was, at the time, a form of graduation for a young, independent country. It was not unlike a wedding. The heady, exciting and naughty days of youth would now need to become a fond memory. What would have been endearing behaviour in your teens - a little too much to drink, a little too much adventure in revolving door
Political analyst Manuel Delia speaks about the dire need to effectively police the economic sector if Malta is to match its offer to the world as a financial hub.
relationships, a little too many pranks - would no longer be acceptable in a married state. Those four or five years before 2004 were a time of reckoning. A filtering examination by objective standards we had never faced since Independence and quite likely, and quite unfortunately, we never will again. All our laws, our systems, our policies were reviewed and measured against a gold
European standard and what fell short would need to be revised. Clearly there would be local specificities that would need taking account but equally clearly these would be kept to the bare minimum. This was the time when we had to examine deeply Malta’s economic model. Naturally change had been in motion for some time already. The government had shed many unproductive industries and withdrew
