A fact from 2003 Maltese European Union membership referendum appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 3 March 2008, and was viewed approximately 1,000 times (disclaimer) (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Malta, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Malta on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.MaltaWikipedia:WikiProject MaltaTemplate:WikiProject MaltaMalta articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject European Union, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the European Union on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.European UnionWikipedia:WikiProject European UnionTemplate:WikiProject European UnionEuropean Union articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Elections and Referendums, an ongoing effort to improve the quality of, expand upon and create new articles relating to elections, electoral reform and other aspects of democratic decision-making. For more information, visit our project page.Elections and ReferendumsWikipedia:WikiProject Elections and ReferendumsTemplate:WikiProject Elections and ReferendumsElections and Referendums articles
Latest comment: 2 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
I cannot edit, because I mentored the application in 1998, as a staffer of the Western European Union. The trigger was the introduction of the Euro, and a request from the OECD to facilitate the transfer of our European Pensioners onto the new currency. One was a member of the Scicluna family, eminent in the Nation, and the response of their financial advisor was extraordinary, the Banker's Association (or rather, the 5 Bank Managers, who used to meet for a curry on Friday nights) wanted Malta to join and didn't know how to go about it. I therefore found myself acting as some kind of Honorary Consul, assisting them diplomatically, which reawakened the stalled accession agreement, with the results described.
Some of the guidance was positively Ruritanian: the Commission sought 174 legally qualified Maltese translators, Malta has just 4, all working for the Government. If one dropped the "legally qualified", it would wipe out the tourist sector, a major source of foreign income, as Brussels would have removed every tour guide in the country! The solution was easy: all Maltese speak English, so that became their official language as far as Europe's concerned. 5.70.112.105 (talk) 00:18, 20 October 2022 (UTC)Reply
