The government and the Opposition yesterday shared the view that the United Kingdom’s continued membership of the European Union would be in the best interests of the EU and Malta and that the deal reached last week was a fair one.
In a ministerial statement in Parliament on the recent European Council, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said all member states could benefit from the special concessions agreed upon, a point that Malta had stressed from the outset.
Ensuring a level playing field in the economic and financial sectors was another principle guiding the Maltese government’s approach. In fact the application of a single rule book had been included in the council’s minutes, he said.
Dr Muscat emphasised that the agreed deal made it clear that there was no plan B for the UK if voters rejected EU membership in June’s referendum.
“An unusual clause states that should British voters opt out of the EU there will be no negotiations for a different deal and the mechanism for the UK’s exit would automatically kick in.”
The consensus reached includes a proposed ‘emergency brake’ on EU migrants claiming in-work benefits. It will cover individuals for no more than four years, but the UK will be allowed to apply the overall restrictions for seven. Restrictions on child benefits for EU migrants will be triggered with immediate effect for new migrants at a rate indexed to the rate of a migrant’s home country. Existing EU migrants will be paid at a lower rate from 2020.
An unusual clause states that should British voters opt out there will be no negotiations for a different deal
Any country will have the right to refer contentious financial regulation to a meeting of EU leaders in the European Council. Britain has a specific opt-out from the EU’s historic commitment to forge an “ever closer union among the peoples of Europe”.
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil asked whether government was carrying out an impact assessment on the possible referendum outcomes and about reciprocity considerations in view of benefits enjoyed by Maltese citizens in the UK and British residents in Malta.
Dr Muscat said the government was carrying out various assessments about the possible impact of a Brexit. Financial services seemed to be the most impacted and there were positive and negative impacts in both scenarios, he said.
On balance, it appeared that the UK’s EU membership was more beneficial to Malta. Politically, the UK was a counterbalance for the thrust towards greater federalism in the EU in areas such as tax harmonisation while pushing for the further dismantling of trade barriers. As for Maltese living in the UK, Dr Muscat said the government was advised that if the UK left the EU, the 1956 bilateral social security and health agreements would still apply to Maltese citizens.
Migration, now a standing item on the agenda, was discussed at the council meeting. The four goals of the Union were a reduction in the number of arrivals, the protection of external borders, the combat against illegal immigration and the integrity of Schengen.
Once the security screening was concluded, Malta would host the first 21 migrants under the relocation and readmission agreements, Dr Muscat said.