Malta could be UK’s gateway to Europe – Muscat

The Maltese government was prepared for a possible UK exit from the EU and for the past few months had been studying adequate contingency plans that included all the ministries, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said today.

“We have a strong economy … Never has it been more important to have strong leadership in place whose major focus was on the economy and providing a strong financial foundation to local businesses and companies,” Muscat said during an interview on One Radio.

Speaking in the wake of the decision taken by UK voters to leave the European Union, Muscat sought to reassure the Maltese public that the government had the issue well in hand, and that the country would not suffer.

Conversely, Muscat said he felt Brexit could provide new opportunities for Malta and for Maltese companies, as the country could now possible serve as the UK’s gateway into Europe, and vice versa.

“Never has the special relationship between Malta and the UK been more important than at this very moment,” Muscat said, while revealing that – together with the deputy PM and foreign affairs minister – he had met British high commissioner Rob Luke soon after the Brexit vote was final.

In that meeting, the government made it clear it was eager to start talks with the UK on establishing bilateral agreements on a number of issues.

Muscat said that though he did not agree with the UK’s decision to leave the EU, he could not condone those in the EU who called the British voters stupid for not understanding the real issues, or those who still insisted the EU was perfect and always right.

The EU would be better served looking into the reasons why so many people voted to leave the union instead of trying to convince people that they were beyond reproach.

“Maybe someone should have listened to all those people in the UK who had been complaining for a long time that, with the influx of legal and illegal immigrants, they could not recognise their own neighbourhoods any longer,” he said.

Muscat said these were not racist considerations but social issues that needed to be discussed, as people had shown they were fed up of being ignored.

“Just because the government does not speak about immigration all the time, people should not think that we are not concerned that the residents of Marsa and Birzebbugia are worried. We are.”

It was worrying that many social democrat parties in Europe were losing their supporters to more extreme parties, as had happened in Italy, France and England.

“I am sometimes afraid that European socialism has become the playground of the elite and is slowly merging with conservative elitism, instead of continuing to serve the people,” Muscat said.

As to the possible impact of a a Brexit on Malta, the prime minister said nothing would change for at least two years, while the UK negotiated its exit terms with the EU.

In some cases, such as Malta sending patient to Great Ormond Street hospital and other medical centres, there were bilateral agreements that would continue to be honoured even after the UK left the EU.

“Other issues, such as the fees Maltese pay to study in the UK, could be affected,” Muscat said. “At the moment, those Maltese students, like others from EU countries, pay about half what students from outside the EU pay to study in the UK.”

And unless those fees were safeguarded in UK-EU negotiations or in a separate agreement between Malta and the UK, Maltese students studying would see their fees doubled.

Muscat also referred to the government’s plans to refurbish St Luke’s and to build a new hospital in Gozo that would also serve as a medical school.

“Although the private sector is involved in this project, and will be investing around €200 million in total, health services in Malta and Gozo will remain free,” he said.

He also welcomed this week’s announcement that EasyJet had chose SR Techniks in Malta to continue offering maintenance service for its expanded fleet of aeroplanes.

Muscat said that there was so much work that no one company could do it alone, and EasyJet would in the coming days be announcing that some work had also been awarded to Lufthansa Teknik, also based in Malta.

These were further evidence of the government’s economic competence and leadership, Muscat said.

“Malta will remain strong,” he insisted. “All I can tell people is to leave these issues to us and focus on focus on working to provide for their families.”