“We are in uncharted territory,” Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told the House of Representatives on Monday when briefing MPs about a European Council summit held recently on Brexit.

Representatives were told that the United Kingdom would be exiting the EU with no deal on April 12 if the House of Commons did not manage to agree on an alternative by the 11th of that month.

If UK Prime Minister Theresa May managed to obtain the Commons’ support for her deal before the 11th, the UK would have until May 23 to exit the European Union. 

Read: Parliament support 'not sufficient' for third Brexit vote - May

The European Council’s group of 27 member states had decided to proffer these two deadlines so as to ensure that the final decision on Brexit was taken by the United Kingdom, and not by the European Union, Dr Muscat said. 

“The deadlines also sent the message that it was time for decisions to be taken,” he added.

Dr Muscat said work was underway to modify a legal notice intended to permit the Electoral Commission to remove British citizens, who would no longer be EU citizens after the original Brexit date of March 29, from the electoral register ahead of the European Parliament elections in May. 

“Efforts were underway to prepare for all possible scenarios,” he said.

“Malta’s plans for a no-deal Brexit had been described by the European Commission as “excellent,” and were among the most generous to UK citizens,” Dr Muscat added.

Opposition leader Adrian Delia criticised the fact that small businesses had been left in the dark about the consequences of either a no-deal Brexit or Brexit following the Commons’ endorsement of Ms May’s deal. 

Read: UK government has 300 no-deal Brexit contingency plans

One concern was the effect that a no-deal Brexit would have on promises of sale in effect between Maltese sellers and British buyers, he said. 

Dr Delia asked Dr Muscat to explain whether Malta’s position on tax harmonisation would be weakened within the EU following Brexit, as the UK had consistently supported Malta’s position against harmonisation.

Referring to reports that Malta had “failed” a Moneyval assessment carried out last November, Dr Delia said that, should Malta fail to rectify its position in time, it would be blacklisted. 

“The consequences of this would be job losses in one of our country’s best-paying sectors,” he said.