On May 1, 2004 tens of thousands of Maltese lined up the bastions and vantage points to see a splendid light show in the Grand Harbour in Valletta which was broadcast throughout Europe and accompanied the midnight toll of the bells.

Malta had joined together with nine other countries - eight from Eastern Europe, and Cyprus - the European Union on 1 May 2004 when the union enlarged to twenty-five member countries. This “fifth enlargement” is the largest in EU history.

Malta formally applied to join the EU in July 1990. It was on March 8, 2003 that Malta held its referendum on EU membership where the majority of the Maltese expressed their opinion of Malta joining the EU. This was confirmed by a snap general election on 12th April 2003. This paved the way for the signing of the Accession Treaty by Malta on 16th April 2003 in Athens and its subsequent ratification by the Maltese Parliament. Malta's official accession occurred on 1st May 2004.

Dar Malta is the building in Brussels bought by the government to house its EU Permanent Representation.

To access MaltaMedia’s special feature on Malta’s accession in the EU click here.

Earlier this year Malta also began using the euro as the country’s official currency becoming the 15th EU member state to join the euro zone. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi made a symbolic withdrawal of euros from a cash machine in Valletta just minutes into the New Year moments after the euro’s arrival was celebrated with fireworks.

Malta and Cyprus, who also joined the euro zone on the same day with Malta, have together added 1.2 million people to the number of Europeans using the single currency and have equal voting rights with the other 13 eurozone members at the European Central Bank.

See also: The Maltese celebrate Workers’ Day