After Bratislava Summit, Joseph Muscat says priority is to protect single market

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has urged the fellow 27 leaders of the European Union to continue working on the potentials offered by the Single Market, which offers member states like Malta access to various important economic and financial sectors.

Addressing reporters after the informal meeting of EU leaders in Bratislava, the Maltese Prime Minister said the European Union must not only take stock of its situation but come up with a way forward as soon as possible.

Another informal meeting of the EU leaders – one which does not include the United Kingdom – is set to take place in Malta early next year ahead of the European Council meeting in March.

Muscat reiterated that the European Union must push forward a more social agenda, one that protects the standard of living of workers and pensioners and where youths can endeavour.

“Europe has abandoned its social soul over the years and we need to see it back on the agenda.”

The Prime Minister went on to add that Europe did not mean everything for everyone: migration, taxation, relations with Russia and Turkey all left different impacts on different member states.

“This is not something new but the difference is that the European family is bigger and more diverse,” he said. “At a time when the forces of globalisation are stronger than ever, Europe seems to be turning back to protectionism. There needs a new European idea that surprises the world.”