Malta : the assimilation of the EU ’s economic, fiscal and monetary governance acquis in the Maltese legal framework

Abstract

The main provisions of the Maastricht Treaty on economic and monetary governance, and subsequent substantive developments on economic, fiscal and monetary governance at a European Union level, have not been reflected in the Constitution of Malta. The latter contains only general provisions on matters pertaining to public finance, which are still in their original form since Malta achieved independence from Great Britain on 21 September 1964. Rather than amending the Constitution to incorporate the key developments and commitments of the acquis communautaire on EMU, the Maltese House of Representatives enacted a number of special laws with a view to give effect to the EU ’s economic, fiscal and monetary governance rules, most notably through enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Malta is also a signatory of intergovernmental instruments in the field of fiscal stability. The EU ’s economic, fiscal and monetary governance is not entrenched in the Maltese Constitution. Nevertheless, Malta ’s accession Treaty and other existing or future EU acts (1) are binding on Malta, (2) form part of its domestic law, and (3) are directly applicable, to the extent that EU law is supreme over incompatible Maltese national law. They enjoy this effect based on Article 3 of the European Union Act. This chapter will comment on the main characteristics of the Maltese Constitution while seeking to identify special laws of an economic, fiscal or monetary character, most of which have been enacted to transpose or otherwise to give effect to the EU acquis on economic, fiscal and monetary governance.