Chamber of Commerce president recalls ‘decisive moment’ in run-up to 2003 EU referendum

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Malta’s accession to the European Union, the Malta Chamber president Chris Vassallo Cesareo revealed a “decisive moment” in the fraught campaign preceding that historic date.

Writing in the annual report of the Malta Business Bureau – a joint venture between The Malta Chamber and the Malta Hotel and Restaurants Association (MHRA) to represent Maltese interests in Europe, Mr Vassallo Cesareo notes that the period leading up to the decision on Malta’s EU membership was “marked by intense political debate.”

At the time, the Nationalist Party was strongly in favour of accession, while the Labour Party had taken a position for ‘partnership’, a relationship more akin to that of Switzerland – leading to the memorable slogan, ‘Switzerland in the Mediterranean’.

The question was put to the electorate in a referendum held in 2023, with both main parties running major campaigns in an attempt to convince the electorate.

Despite – or perhaps due to – the national political division on the issue, the Malta Chamber of Commerce wanted to base its stance on facts rather than political rhetoric.

This stance – which was solidly in favour of EU membership – proved to have a “significant influence” on the referendum’s outcome, said Mr Vassallo Cesareo, who went on to recount the precise moment that would cement The Malta Chamber’s impact on Malta’s future.

“The Malta Chamber’s leadership largely supported EU membership,” he wrote, “but a publicly declared position required the backing of its members.

“The decisive moment came when the Chamber conducted a survey of its members to gauge their views.”

He continued: “The results were clear – the majority opted for joining the EU, giving the Chamber a mandate to publicly endorse it. This turn of events signalled that the business community believed that Malta’s future prosperity and job growth were best served by EU membership.”

Mr Vassallo Cesareo noted that The Malta Chamber’s “critical stance at a historic crossroads in the country’s history” provided “significant momentum” for the referendum, which went on to be won by the ‘Yes’ vote, paving the way to Malta’s accession to the EU the following year.

However, he also noted that getting there was not easy: “There were genuine concerns about the impact of opening the Maltese economy, which until then was shielded by heavy import duties, to competition in the Single Market.”

Although EU funds were a major point of discussion, the Chamber president recalls that the rallying cry of the business lobby was that Maltese companies “would be reaching a market of 500 million people instead of the local one of 450,000.”

The Malta Chamber therefore emphasised that the pivotal advantage of membership would be access to the Single Market.