EU Gives Malta 7-Year Foreign Labour Concession

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

28 June 2001

The European Union has given Malta a 7-year derogation from the need to open its labour market to EU citizens after accession, on the grounds that Malta has a very small labour market which could be severely damaged by even a small number of new entrants. However, Maltese citizens will gain the right to employment throughout the Union immediately on accession.

The political reality behind this concession on the part of the EU (the first time it has done such a thing) is the legacy of union power, labour unrest and rooted unemployment left behind by the British when they quit their massive defence installations on the island. The opposition Labour Party, which withdrew Malta's application for membership of the EU when it was last in power, still fulminates about 'betrayal of the country's workers' and was unimpressed by the concession on labour markets, saying yesterday that 'seven years after Malta’s accession in the Union, anyone from the EU can come to work in Malta without any restriction and compete with Maltese youth for jobs'.

The EU has probably calculated that the 7-year concession will be enough to prevent any back-tracking on the part of the Labour Party, should they gain power once more.

The EU accepted the request during an EU accession conference called by Sweden, which currently holds the Union’s rotating presidency. The arrangement is the most important concession obtained so far in Malta’s negotiations.

Speaking during the conference, the head of the Maltese negotiating team, Richard Cachia Caruana said the arrangement meets all the basic objectives. “Malta can therefore start applying, and benefiting from, this part of the acquis from day one of its membership, with the assurance that if any problems arise, it can take appropriate remedial action,” he said. “What is perhaps the most important aspect in this regard is the manifestation that the accession negotiations can and do take full account of the particular needs and circumstances of a candidate country, once these needs and circumstances are clearly spelled out.”

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