Small states and EU-level priorities : the continuing relevance of LGBTIQ rights for Malta as an EU priority

Abstract

When Malta held the Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2017, its six priorities ranged from migration to the single market, security to maritime with its stated aims being ‘to contribute’, ‘to focus’ and ‘to deliver’ with only one priority area, social inclusion, being an area where the country would ‘lead’. This reflected the marked progress seen in Malta in the last decade where the country had become the world leader for LGBTIQ rights. Basing itself on small state literature, this article seeks to analyse how small states seek to protect national interests in Brussels through the adoption of a smart strategy that seeks to minimise small states’ limitations, in particular by prioritising niche issues at an EU level. This article will discuss how social inclusion represented one such niche priority before discussing the place of LGBTIQ rights in Malta’s EU-level priorities. The article will then analyse whether it remains a national priority for Malta in Brussels, especially as the practical limitations of small states would imply that non-essential, niche issues would be abandoned over time as other issues replace it in importance.