"Malta submitted its formal application for EU full membership in July 1990. In 1996, the European Commission included Malta among a group of six European countries which were earmarked to become full EU members in the next enlargement. Negotiations were to start following the conclusion of the intergovernmental conference of the EU member states. However, in the general election held in October 1996, the Malta Labour Party (MLP), which in its electoral programme had proclaimed its opposition to full EU membership, polled 50.7% of the votes cast. This victory at the polls was considered to be a clear mandate for the MLP to pursue its policy vis-à-vis Malta's accession to the EU so that, as soon as it assumed office, it froze Malta's application and started negotiating an industrial free trade zone with the EU. The policy, as stated by the Prime Minister, was to use this industrial free trade zone as a measuring rod to assess the impact of the EU on the Maltese economy. Once an evaluation of this impact had been made, other options would be considered. Why do the MLP and PN take a dissimilar stand on the EU? What is the basis of this lack of consensus? What is the policy of Maltese trade unions on this issue? This paper tries to address these questions by presenting the views expressed by the two major political parties and the two main trade union organisations in Malta. These have been the main actors in the drama about EU membership."

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