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2004: News Top Headlines: Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec Top Stories: Malta gets into the EU Tens of thousands of Maltese lined up the bastions and vantage points to see a splendid light show in the Grand Harbour, broadcast throughout Europe, that accompanied the midnight toll of the bells. The impact of Malta's accession to the EU is yet to be assessed. However the issue is no longer divisive and all political parties in Malta agree that Malta now has to make the best out of this membership in the most powerful union of independent sovereign countries in the world.
First Maltese MEPs elected The elections were held on June 12th and brought a surprising result. The Nationalist Party (PN), that had championed Malta's accession to the EU and garnered the support of the majority of the Maltese people a year earlier, was soundly defeated at the polls. On the other hand, the Malta Labour Party, the champion of the "No" camp, won the majority of votes and elected three deputies from its ticket.
A change of leadership for the country After more than 25 years at the helm of his Nationalist Party, 15 of them also as prime minister of Malta, 70-year-old Eddie Fenech Adami finally called it a day.
By virtue of this election, Lawrence Gonzi was also appointed Prime Minister of Malta. Although many expressed their view in favour of Dr. Fenech Adami retiring from public life for a well-deserved rest, he chose to remain active and was appointed President of Malta. Dr. Fenech Adami thus was the Head of State of the country when his dream came true and Malta joined the European Union on May 1st 2004.
Budget 2005
The budget speech announced a range of measures aimed
at reducing Malta's structural deficit under the watchful eye of the EU.
The measures created mixed feelings, greeted by employers but criticised
by unions, especially the measure to stop giving leave in lieu of national/public
holidays falling on weekends. The full affects of the Budget 2005 be felt as from January 2005 when most of the measures come into affect.
Eurovision - still in the doldrums Despite a splendid performance on stage in Istanbul in May, the duo were penalised again by poor marketing on the international scene. Keeping with tradition the MaltaMedia Online Network gave full coverage of this popular song contest on the Internet, including lyrics and downloadable MP3s, streaming audio and video, news reports directly from Istanbul.
Top Headlines: Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec
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After
fourteen years of intense diplomatic lobbying, a nation split almost equally
in half between those in favour and those against, and a profound change
in the Maltese economic landscape, Malta finally became a member of the
European Union on May 1st 2004, together with another nine countries.
the
EU's legislative institution.
Lawrence
Gonzi, John Dalli and Louis Galea contested the vacant leadership post,
and Gonzi won the backing of the majority of party councillors. Tonio
Borg was later elected as his deputy.
This
was Dr. Gonzi's first budget since taking office earlier in the year and
the first budget for Malta as a member of the European Union.
Following
the very poor showing by Malta at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest, many
Maltese thought the lovely duo Julie and Ludwig would bring back Malta's
Eurovision participation on its successful track.