Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1175418
10.10.19 4 NEWS IT'S been 1202 days since the vote in the United Kingdom on EU membership. And in 21 days, the United Kingdom is set to leave the European Union. e days in between have been event- ful to say the least. We've seen two Prime Ministers resign in the United Kingdom, an early general election and spent countless hours fol- lowing debates in various fora on Brexit. Debates on the way the United Kingom should leave the Union, the Agreement or lack thereof and even on whether it should leave the Union. It's no secret that if it was up to us, the UK would remain part of the EU. On this, I personally couldn't agree more with the President of the Europe- an Council: Brexit is a lose-lose situa- tion and all we can do is minimise the effects of it. However, despite more than 3 years of ongoing negotiations, we are none the wiser and still have no clarity on whether the UK will leave the EU with or without a deal. In this regard, we would prefer if an agreement were to be reached that en- sures an orderly withdrawal. We want this outcome not only because we want to protect our citizens and minimise the impact on our business, but because we still consider the UK to be one of our closest friends and ally. One with whom we are determined to strengthen coop- eration in areas of mutual interest. Yet we know that the days to come will be intense and that time is not our side. Complex technical issues related to the border on the island of Ireland need to be resolved. And even if we manage to reach an agreement that is acceptable for both sides of the negotiating table, there's still no guarantee or certainty regarding the processes that will follow. Regretfully, we are still encountering major uncertainty. Now I need not tell you - that uncer- tainty is not desirable, especially for businesses. It affects business confidence that in turn may have detrimental effects on our economies. en there are people. People who have exercised their rights of free movement and are living in the UK, or from the UK living in the EU. ey too are feeling anxious and nerv- ous – although for reasons that may be different to businesses. is is where we as politicians need to come in. It's our duty to provide certainty where there is none. It's our job to alleviate concerns. at is what Government will contin- ue to do in the days that remain until the United Kingdom leaves the Europe- an Union. Regardless of how the UK leaves, we want to ensure that the impact of changes brought about by such a with- drawal are minimal. e citizens were our foremost prior- ity and central in our workplans in this regard. We introduced legislation to protect the UK workers, students and pensioners living in Malta, and safe- guarded their rights whatever the out- come of this process. We are also pleased that the UK Gov- ernment did the same vis-a-vis EU cit- izens staying in the UK – because we believe people should not be bargaining chips. Moving on from the issues related to citizens however, there are other mat- ters that we had to prepare for, includ- ing in areas that affect business. is is why when I took office as Minister I immediately took stock of the situation and the preparations that were already underway. Fortunately, this Government had the foresight to start these preparations way back when negotiations with the UK were still at an early stage. Not because it didn't trust that there would be an agreement but because we always believed that it would be impru- dent and irrational to take chances. e risks were far too great. A lot of work was and still is ongoing behind the scenes and without much fanfare to compliment EU contingency measures. In the twelve weeks since I assumed the responsibilities of office I immediately recognised the impor- tance of this work and ordered that efforts are further intensified because the last thing we want is to get caught off guard. I'm confident that we are adequately prepared so that come what may, there won't be any major disruptions. But that isn't enough. ere are some preparations that Gov- ernments can't do. is was also noted by the leaders in the European Council since the very beginning of this process. You (the business community) too need to 'Be Prepared' for Brexit. If you haven't done so already, you need to analyse the impact this may have on your day to day, and longer term operations and adopt measures to mitigate them. In doing so, we are committed to help you as much as we can. We have worked on tailor made schemes that will be launched in the coming days and which will provide you with targeted funding to assist in the process of determinig how Brexit may affect you. We have also set up a helpline and will, as already announced, intensify our communication efforts to explain in a more detailed manner what the poten- tial impact may be. I, and I am quite sure the High Com- missioner Gill and the Government he represents concurs with this view too, believe that we will continue to have a strong and healthy relationship with the United Kingdom. ere is too much that binds us to have it any other way. SPEECH BY EU AFFAIRS MINISTER EDWARD ZAMMIT LEWIS Even if we manage to reach an agreement that is acceptable for both sides of the negotiating table, there's still no guarantee or certainty regarding the processes that will follow