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Europeanisation and Party Politics in Malta: An Introduction

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The Europeanisation of Party Politics in Malta

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Electoral Politics ((SSEP))

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Abstract

This chapter provides an insight into party politics in Malta. It discusses the dominant role of party leaders and provides a discussion on how the European Union interacted with Malta, before and after the 2004 EU membership. The study argues that the Europeanisation of Party Politics in Malta can be evaluated through four stages. These stages provide an insight of the influence of the European Union, but also the way the European Union was politicised by the country’s political parties. Cachia explores the issue surrounding Malta’s EU membership by explaining how membership was not just an economic issue, but had wide reaching implications on the country’s identity, language and politics.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The application ended up being vetoed by De Gaulle.

  2. 2.

    Mintoff addressed the Conference on the Security and Cooperation in Europe in Helsinki on 6 July 1973 as the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Malta.

  3. 3.

    The statement was made by Fenech Adami to the Ambassadors and other representatives accredited to Malta on 9 June 1987.

  4. 4.

    Mintoffʼs approach towards the EEC was very similar to the Irish Labour Party which in 1987, was the only Eurosceptic party in Ireland. The Irish Labour Party believed that the Union was a capitalist elite club and that membership was going to have a negative impact on the countryʼs Neutrality Status. However, by 1992, the party shifted towards Europeanism by supporting European integration (Holmes, 1996).

  5. 5.

    This was the time of the Cold War, so any relationship with Communism was seen as dangerous by the USA and its allies.

  6. 6.

    The euro replaced the lira as the official currency of Malta on 1 January 2008. The fixed exchange rate is that of €1 per Lm 0.4293

  7. 7.

    The currency conversions were made in October 2022.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for European Studies, University of Malta, Msida, Malta

    Jean Claude Cachia

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  1. Jean Claude Cachia
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Cachia, J.C. (2023). Europeanisation and Party Politics in Malta: An Introduction. In: The Europeanisation of Party Politics in Malta. Springer Series in Electoral Politics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23290-9_1

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