“The people haven’t just voted ‘Yes’ to divorce, they have signalled they are happy to embrace the modern age. The new Malta isn’t condemning and stifling, it is relaxed and open,” agrees the Malta Star. For the Times of Malta: “Now the focus shifts to Parliament and its members who have the duty and grave responsibility of translating the people’s mandate into legislation that encapsulates the main elements listed in the referendum question but also attain that about which there is national consensus: strengthening marriage and the family”. Finally, the paper concludes: “It is time for MPs to stand up and be counted, literally”.

The European Council directive comes into force in 2013 and “will give hundreds of refugees and other sub-Saharan Africans in Malta a raft of new rights equal to those granted to non-EU citizens who come to live here legally,” reports the Times of Malta.

The move will also see such migrants afforded the right to reside in other EU states.

The country has been “stridently opposed” says the Maltese daily. “In 2008, when the proposal first came before Justice and Home Affairs Ministers, Malta had managed to block it single-handedly as the legislation needed unanimity to be approved,” and has failed to push its implementation back to 2018.

However, let's not forget that beyond the borders of the EU, there exists a different reality, where access to Europe and all the advantages it implies, notably the immense privilege constituted by the principle of freedom of movement, is a dream that often turns into a nightmare. The summer of 2009, like the summers of so many preceding years, has been marked by the arrival of dangerously overcrowded boats of migrants, who hope to find a refuge from war and poverty in Europe. Immigration is a tangible reality that affects the daily lives of Europeans throughout the Union. However, until now, the response of member states has been fragmented, and devoid of solidarity. Now that the Swedish presidency has announced its commitment to a harmonized immigration legislation, and now that proposals have been tabled for greater solidarity with the countries of Southern Europe – Spain, Italy, Malta, Greece – which have to contend with large flows of immigrants crossing the Mediterranean, Europe has an opportunity to implement a coordinated policy for the movement of people, not only within, but also across the borders of the EU.

The Italian government is not only crossing swords with the EU. According to Catholic newspaper l'Avvenire, it is also studying the possibility of an "international rogatory against Malta for non-assistance of lives in danger”. Last Wednesday a Maltese patrol boat accosted the dinghy, providing it with food and fuel to continue on to Italy. Though international law requires sea rescue to anyone in difficulty, the Maltese government claims that the five Eritreans "at the time of intervention by the patrol boat were in good condition and wanted to continue".