Maltese Terms

From the DW:

"Brexit deal must be worse than terms of EU membership, says Maltese PM"

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has said the UK must not gain advantages from leaving the EU. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has reiterated that Brexit does not spell the end for the bloc.  Addressing journalists in the Maltese capital Valletta on Wednesday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that "if we are considering the Brexit case as the beginning of the end we will make a major mistake." At the same conference, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said any deal between Britain and the EU must be worse than the terms of its membership.  "We want a fair deal for the UK but that fair deal has to be inferior to membership," Muscat said, as Malta took on the six-month rotating EU presidency. "I have rarely been at a discussion on any other subject where the 27 member states have basically the same position," said the premier, whose country is a former British colony. Muscat said there would be only "one contact point" for negotiations - the European Commission - which "would, from time to time, consult with EU governments when a political decision would need to be made." Some 52 percent of the UK voted to leave the EU in a referendum last June, but is yet to start formal negotiations with the other 27 countries on the terms of its exit and its future relationship.  UK Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty - starting formal negotiations with the EU - by the end of March. Amid speculation it will take longer to establish Britain's new trade ties with the bloc, there are growing calls for some kind of transitional deal. May's position remains unclear, with free movement of labor and immigration controls dominating the domestic British debate.  On Wednesday May distanced herself from remarks by a junior minister who suggested Britain was considering introducing an annual  £1,000 (1,150 euros, $1,200) post-Brexit "immigration skills charge" on every skilled worker from an EU member state recruited by a British employer. Former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, the European parliament's representative in the Brexit process, called the proposal "shocking."

^ It makes sense. If the EU gives the UK a great withdrawal agreement then it will be a domino game with other countries wanting to leave the EU and get the same great deal. ^

http://www.dw.com/en/brexit-deal-must-be-worse-than-terms-of-eu-membership-says-maltese-pm/a-37095469