Malta: accession to the European Union and progress in negotiations

The committee adopted the report by Ursula STENZEL (EPP-ED, A) on Malta's application for membership of the EU and the state of the negotiations. The report noted that Malta was well on the way to meeting most of the political and economic criteria for membership. However the committee was concerned that there remained much scepticism about early EU membership in significant quarters in the country, particularly the main opposition party. There was also some catching up to do in the implementation of the "acquis communautaire", for example, in the field of the environment and agriculture. �