Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this evening that he viewed British requests for EU reforms as sensible and Malta would support them if they were refined.
Dr Muscat made his comments to Times of Malta shortly before the opening of an EU leaders’ meeting which will discuss a proposed reform deal being sought by Britain before a referendum in June on whether it should stay in the EU.
Dr Muscat said Malta’s position was that any concessions granted to the UK should be applicable to all other countries.
I think that his (UK Prime Minister David Cameron's) requests are sensible requests which, if properly refined, Malta can and will support."
He was confident that a deal would be reached.
Officially described as “a new settlement for the UK in the EU”, the deal will be on the agenda of the first working session slated to start at 5.45pm.
The session will be followed by a working dinner at 8pm during which leaders will discuss the migration crisis.
The UK-EU debate will continue to be discussed at an informal breakfast tomorrow, being dubbed as “the English breakfast”.
Although EU heavyweights like Germany, France, Italy and senior functionaries like European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker have called for a constructive approach that would keep the UK inside the EU, stumbling blocks remain.
Eastern European countries are wary of the UK’s request to be able to freeze social benefits to EU migrants, while France has reservations on demands to insulate the City of London financial services hub from EU-wide rules.
BUSUTTIL; WE WANT THE UK IN THE EU
PN leader Simon Busuttil, who attended a meeting of the European People's Party in Brussels, said all efforts should be made to keep the UK in the EU because that was in the interests of the EU and of Malta. He said that Malta's positions in the EU often tallied with those of the UK.
Dr Busuttil also stressed that the interests of Maltese working and living in the UK must be safeguarded in any deal with the UK.
CAMERON 'BATTLING FOR BRITAIN'
David Cameron declared he was "battling for Britain" as he arrived for the summit.
"We have got some important work to do today and tomorrow and it's going to be hard. I will be battling for Britain; if we can get a good deal I will take that deal but I will not take a deal that does not meet what we need.
"I think it is much more important to get this right than to do anything in a rush.
"But with goodwill, with hard work, we can get a better deal for Britain."
In an indication of the high-stakes nature of the meeting, European Council president Donald Tusk said "this is a make-or-break summit, I have no doubt" as he arrived.
His comments came after the senior Brussels official insisted he is "confident" a deal will be reached on the Prime Minister's demands for change.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said he was "convinced" the UK would remain a "constructive and active" member of the 28-nation bloc.
Key elements of the Prime Minister's demands for change in Britain's relations with the EU are still in dispute and will be thrashed out at the meeting.
Mr Juncker said: "I'm quite confident that we will have a deal during this European Council."
But he acknowledged there were a "certain number" of issues in the reform proposals that were yet to be resolved.