Negotiations between Malta and the European Union entered their final phase yesterday with a meeting between Malta's negotiators and the Danish presidency in Brussels.

Richard Cachia Caruana led the Maltese delegation, which included Malta's ambassador to the EU Victor Camilleri.

The Danish presidency was represented by ambassador Poul Skytte Christofferson and director general for enlargement Eneko Landaburo.

The European Commission presented its common position on agriculture, which will now be scrutinised by the Maltese negotiating team before counter proposals are submitted.

The meeting also prioritised Malta's pending issues in its negotiations, which range from VAT to matters related to the agricultural sector.

The Maltese government is insisting that it wants to retain a zero VAT rating on food and medicines as long as there remain countries in the EU who have a zero rating on these sectors.

The Commission is proposing that Malta be given a transition period of five years, which is what Cyprus, another accession country, has accepted.

The government has had technical talks with the two member states, France and Germany, who are objecting to Malta's request.

Over the past few days, Finance Minister John Dalli has met the finance ministers of both countries and talks on a technical level are expected to continue with these countries over the next few weeks.

Malta also has a number of issues pending in the agricultural sector, including that of levies. The government is insisting that there should be safeguards so that farmers would continue to earn as much as they are earning now.

A meeting similar to the one held yesterday is scheduled to be held in two weeks' time when the presidency is expected to come up with a way forward to broker a deal on the pending issues.