Prime Minister does not rule out extended EU Presidency for Malta

Malta may be forced to extend its Presidency of the EU Council by a further six months next year if the UK citizens vote in favour of a Brexit, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has conceded.

Although options remain open, including the possibility that UK’s successor in the EU Presidency steps in six months earlier, Muscat did not rule out the possibility of Malta retaining the EU Presidency for 12 months.

The presidency of the Council rotates among the EU countries every six months. The current trio is made up of the presidencies of the Netherlands, Slovakia and Malta. The UK is scheduled to take over in July 2017.

Fears of a UK exit have intensified as pollsters show a convincing swing in favour of the ‘leave’ campaign.

“It’s pretty obvious that whatever the Brits decide needs to be implemented, but I cannot predict the mood. It could vary from a consensual out-of-court settlement to a bitter divorce,” Muscat quipped, using marital euphemisms.

“It won’t be cheap and it won’t be easy,” he told Bloomberg’s Ryan Chilcote, interviewed on the sidelines of St Petersburg’s international economic forum.

Irrespective of next Thursday’s result, the majority of EU leaders will hold Cabinet meetings on Friday morning ahead of a planned EU Council on Tuesday.

“Changes need to take place irrespective of the result,” Muscat added.

As Malta prepares to take over the EU Presidency in January, Chilcote asked Muscat whether the country’s agenda would be hijacked in the eventuality of a UK exit.

“Whatever the agenda, it will always be hijacked … a week is a long time in politics and I think that the ‘remain’ campaign is being written off to quickly.”

Muscat opined that the debate in the UK had failed to focus on what happens if the UK opts to stay in.

He added that the UK needed to take stock of the type of relationship it wanted with the EU.