Trio meet in Malta
The EU Presidency Trio (2016 to mid-2017 – Slovakia, Malta and the Netherlands) yesterday held talks in order to produce a focus which would examine how the EU could work on a number of issues namely migration and Brexit.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday said that EU member states are still a long way from finding common ground on the issue of illegal migration, but welcomed the opening of discussion on the issue.
Addressing a press conference with the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, Dr Muscat said that countries should share the immigration burden.
At the press conference, Mr Fico announced plans to unveil a proposal which will put forward an alternative aimed to unite the EU on this divisive issue. He then said that Europe is currently not politically ready to allow burden sharing and unchecked entrances in multiple member states.
A couple of weeks ago, Slovakian Prime Minister and current EU presidency holder Robert Fico said that the proposed EU fairness mechanism, which will see 160,000 migrants distributed across the EU according to a quota, was a “politically dead issue”.
Dr Muscat along with Mr Rutte both maintained that countries “should share the burden” of migration in accordance with the EU principle of solidarity amongst member states.
The Maltese Prime Minister also said that the fact that the recent deaths of migrants off the coast of Libya were not given that much importance showed that the world has unfortunately become numb to the situation.
Both men praised Mr Fico for trying to break the deadlock and find common ground between the opposing sides on this debate. Dr Muscat said that the Slovakian Prime Minister was “brave” in attempting to tackle the issue, adding that he showed a lot of political will in not accepting the current status quo, insisting that “doing nothing is not an option”.
The EU Presidency Trio (2016 to mid-2017) held talks in order to produce a focus and slim which would examine how the EU could work on a number of issues namely migration and Brexit. All men said the talks were progressive and allowed for open and frank discourse.
Dr Muscat said that the meeting produced focused and slim programs which would examine how the EU could work together on the issues, going as far to say that the member states actually have a lot of common ground on the issues.
On the 18-month agenda produced by the three member states which gave priority to migration, jobs, growth, energy and security, Mr Rutte said that they are currently pleased on what they have achieved so far, pointing towards the introduction of an EU Border and Coast guard set to be operational by the end of Malta’s Presidency in 2017. He did however insist that a lot more work ended to be done.
With regards to Brexit and the recent UK high court ruling saying that Article 50 can only be activated through approval by the British parliament, Dr Muscat said that it was ultimately a sovereign decision made by sovereign state and that the EU would not be getting involved in any way in its activation.
He went on to say that all EU member states have an unequivocal stance that the foundation of the single market and the free movement of people would not be decoupled.
Dr Muscat stressed that the EU had a clear vision when it came to tackling the issue, insisting that the EU’s position would not be anti-British but will solely look after European interests.
On the proposal for an introduction of a European consolidated tax, Dr Muscat said that whilst more transparency and uniformity was needed in member states’ tax laws, “a one size fits all” concept on tax would not suit Malta’s needs, and the Maltese government would not approve any such proposal.
The Maltese Prime Minister also said that the fact that the recent deaths of migrants off the coast of Libya were not given that much importance showed that the world has unfortunately become numb to the situation.