On Wednesday 31st October Access organized one of its Autumn joint staff talks at the Cottonera Community Service Centre in Birgu.

The three-hour talk and discussion was led by Brenda Azzopardi, from Forum’s Information Team, and held in the afternoon with around 30 people coming from different sectors, such as social workers, social security clerks, ETC job centre workers and care workers. In a quite pleasant atmosphere, the talk started off by giving a brief overview of the historical evolution of the European integration through consecutive treaties, up to the Reform Treaty signed a few days ago, and the enlargements effected since the 1950s.  This was followed by some information about the European Union's structure and its institutions.

Some aspects of the foreign policy were also mentioned while some time was left for the attendants to put questions. Issues raised included EU funding, aspects of social policy and Malta's situation three years after EU accession.