Europeanisation of Malta’s Foreign Policy: Defying the Trends or Conforming to them?

Abstract

The article starts with a brief discussion of the Europeanization literature followed by a simple process tracing approach of the changes that have taken place in Malta’s foreign policy before and after membership. The analysis focuses on what changes have taken place in Malta’s foreign policy, mindful of course of its smallness, as a result of the transformations which have taken place in the international system since Malta applied to join the EU in 1990 and what changes could be attributed to the membership question. This part of the paper tries to distinguish what can be attributable to the forces of globalization and what can be linked to Europeanization - or a mixture of both. The article also analyzes Malta’s foreign policy during the economic crisis that has gripped Europe since 2008. The following issues are explored because of their significant impact on Malta’s security and foreign policy: neutrality, migration, energy security and the situation in Libya. The main question which this study sets out to answer is how the ongoing economic and financial crisis has impacted upon the Europeanisation of Malta’s foreign policy and whether there are any signs of its de-Europeanisation. For many southern European states, a shift in policy has accompanied their response to the crisis but similar conditions were absent in the case of Malta. The shifts that have occurred were mainly due to changes in the domestic political configuration in Malta and the need to respond to the transformations taking place in the Mediterranean region as a result of climate change.