“2003 Maltese European Union membership referendum”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

A referendum on European Union membership was held in Malta on 8 March 2003.^[1] A narrow majority voted in favour of joining but the opposition Labour Party rejected the results. The victory of the Nationalist Party in the 2003 general election confirmed the result of the referendum and Malta joined the EU on 1 May 2004.

The Maltese referendum saw the highest turnout, and the lowest support for joining, of any of the nine countries that held referendums on joining the EU in 2003.^[2]^[3]

Background

Malta's first relations with the European Economic Community (EEC) saw the signing of an Association Agreement in December 1970. This agreement called for the creation of a customs union based on free trade between Malta and the Bloc.^[4]

Malta submitted a formal application to join the European Community in July 1990, which was met with a positive opinion from the European Commission.^[4] However the application was suspended in 1996 with a new Labour government.^[4] After the Nationalist Party won the 1998 election, the new government reactivated Malta's membership application.^[5] Negotiations to join were finished at the Copenhagen summit in December 2002 and Malta was invited to join the EU in 2004.^[6]

The government of Malta announced in January 2003 that a non binding referendum on membership would be held on 8 March 2003 at the same time as local elections.^[7]

Campaign

In the run up to the referendum polls showed voters were evenly divided over EU membership.^[8] The Nationalist government argued that Malta would receive EU funds for the roads and tourist industry. They said that Malta needed the EU in order to cope with globalisation and accused the opposition of scaremongering.^[9]

The Labour opposition feared that EU membership would cost jobs due to the lowering of trade barriers and jeopardise Malta's independence. They preferred that Malta should form a partnership with the EU rather than seeking membership and called on Maltese votes to either spoil their ballot papers, abstain or vote no. One billboard for the no campaign showed the Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami wearing a Diaper made of the flag of Europe.^[9]^[10]

The largest trade union in Malta, the General Workers' Union opposed membership.^[14]

Referendum question

The question voted in on in the referendum was confirmed on 3 January 2003.^[11] It was "Do you agree that Malta should become a member of the European Union in the enlargement that is to take place on 1 May 2004?"^[3]

Results

Aftermath

Supporters of the Nationalist party celebrated the result of the referendum but the Labour leader Alfred Sant did not concede defeat and said the issue would be settled at the upcoming general election.^[12] He argued that only 48% of registered voters had voted yes and that therefore a majority had opposed membership by voting no, abstaining or spoiling their ballot. The day after the referendum the Prime Minister called the election for 12 April as expected, though it was not required until January 2004.^[11]^[13]

The main issue in the 2003 election was EU membership and the Nationalist party's victory enabled Malta to join on 1 May 2004.^[14]

Further reading

References

1. ^Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1302 {{ISBN|978-3-8329-5609-7}}
2. ^{{Cite web|last=Briguglio|first=Michael |title = Post-Script: The Malta Labour Party after 1998 | publisher = Michael Briguglio| url = http://www.michaelbriguglio.com/PostscriptJanuary2004.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714082940/http://www.michaelbriguglio.com/PostscriptJanuary2004.pdf|archivedate=14 July 2011|deadurl=yes}}
3. ^¹{{Cite book|author=Stajano, Attilio|year=2006|chapter=Chapter 3.5 An Overview of the Ten Accession Countries of the 2004 Enlargement|title=Research, Quality, Competitiveness: European Union Technology Policy for the Information Society|edition=second|publisher=Springer Verlag|location=New York|pages=60–85, [https://books.google.com/books?id=rgSOZUVwx3cC&pg=PA78 page 78]|isbn=978-0-387-28741-6}}
4. ^¹²{{cite news |title=Malta and the EU: History of Malta's EU Membership |url=https://www.eu2017.mt/en/Pages/Malta-and-the-EU.aspx |accessdate=28 March 2019 |work=EU2017.MT |publisher=Maltese Presidency of the EU 2017 |date=2016 |language=en}}
5. ^{{Cite web| title = Appendix D - Chronology of EU enlargement | accessdate = 2008-02-27 | publisher = Parliament of Australia| url = http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jfadt/CentralEurope/ce_report/appendixd.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040204173338/http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jfadt/centraleurope/ce_report/appendixd.pdf|archivedate=4 February 2004|deadurl=yes}}
6. ^{{Cite web| title = The outcome of the Copenhagen Summit | date = 15 January 2003| publisher = Efficacité et Transparence des Acteurs Européens| url = http://www.euractiv.com/en/enlargement/outcome-copenhagen-summit/article-110360 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212080348/http://www.euractiv.com/enlargement/outcome-copenhagen-summit/article-110360|archivedate=12 February 2012|deadurl=no}}
7. ^{{Cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2707317.stm | title = Malta first in EU referendum race | accessdate = 2008-02-27 | date = 2003-01-29| publisher = BBC Online}}
8. ^{{Cite news|title = Malta voting on EU membership |date = 8 March 2003|newspaper=CNN| url = http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/03/08/malta.euvote.ap/index.html |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080205103605/http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/03/08/malta.euvote.ap/index.html |archivedate = 5 February 2008|deadurl=yes}}
9. ^¹{{Cite news| last=Owen| first=Richard| title = Malta to join EU after knife-edge referendum | date = 10 March 2003|newspaper =The Times| location=London | url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article1117985.ece | accessdate = 2008-02-27 }}
10. ^{{Cite news | title = Malta awaits EU membership verdict | date = 9 March 2003|newspaper = CNN| url = http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/03/09/malta.euvote.ap/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20031001010154/http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/03/09/malta.euvote.ap/|archivedate=1 October 2003|deadurl=yes}}
11. ^¹²{{Cite web| title = Referendum briefing No 2: The Maltese EU accession referendum|date=8 March 2003 | publisher = Opposing Europe Research Network| url = https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=epern-ref-no-2.pdf&site=266|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140526050903/https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=epern-ref-no-2.pdf&site=266|archivedate=26 May 2014|deadurl=no}}
12. ^{{Cite news| title = Malta votes 'yes' to EU membership | date = 9 March 2003| newspaper = CNN| url = http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/03/09/malta.yes/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030313220750/http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/03/09/malta.yes/|archivedate=13 March 2003|deadurl=yes}}
13. ^{{Cite news| title = Malta PM hopes to ride EU success | date = 2003-03-10| newspaper =CNN| url = http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/03/10/malta.prime.minister.reut/index.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041226075354/http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/03/10/malta.prime.minister.reut/index.html|archivedate=26 December 2004|deadurl=no}}
14. ^{{Cite news| url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9900E2D7133BF937A25757C0A9659C8B63 | title = Election Results Move Malta Closer to European Union | accessdate = 2008-02-27 | date = 2003-04-14| publisher = The New York Times}}