 20 - 26 December 2000 |
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British High Commissioner gets economic deja-vu expresses disappointment at ‘entangled’ EU debate Having witnessed the major economic restructuring that Britain went through during the 1980’s, the British High Commissioner, Howard Pearce, admits to having experienced a sense of ‘deja-vu’ when he arrived in Malta 16 months ago. Mr Pearce tells The Business Times that the changes Britain had to go through during the 1980s were uncomfortable ones, but describes how the UK has now emerged with a much, much stronger economy. "We’re now in a situation where we have strong growth, low inflation and now also relatively low unemployment," he says. He explains that Malta is likely to experience a difficult period which has to be endured if one is to reap the long-term benefits of restructuring. He also points out that many of the changes which need to take place in order to make Malta competitive in the world economy have to be made regardless of whether or not Malta joins the EU. Mr Pearce says he believes it is unfortunate that the EU debate has somewhat clouded this distinction. "There seems to be a consensus among the politicians on many of the changes that need to be made, but these issues appear to have now become enmeshed in the debate about EU membership," he says. "I think that this is unhelpful, both in terms of addressing the process of change and in addressing the issue of whether Malta should or should not join the EU." Regarding the lack of political consensus in Malta on EU membership, the British High Commissioner admits this is something that causes some concern within the EU, perhaps in particular to the continental Europeans. "But I come from a country where political consensus is not always present on certain issues, including EU membership, which has long been a controversial subject, so I don’t think it behoves me to speak about the need for consensus," he says. "Perhaps, however, it helps to provide some empathy between the two countries; I believe Britain understands the kind of fairly confrontational politics which are characteristic of Malta." Read full interview with Howard Pearce | ||||||
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