Although initially not invited to attend the informal meeting at which the leaders of the other 27 member states will continue their discussions, begun in Bratislava in September 2016 (see EUROPE 11626), on the future of the European Union, United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May will be in Malta with her counterparts on Friday 3 February to discuss illegal migration in the central Mediterranean and the international situation following Donald Trump taking office as the president of the United States (see other articles).
May will very probably be asked to talk about her meeting with Trump in Washington and give her impressions of the new American administration, a number of European sources have said.
She will, however, leave the other leaders in the afternoon to discuss the future of the EU and to prepare for the European summit in Rome celebrating the 60th anniversary of the eponymous treaty, with some looking for a tough stance to be taken on Brexit.
No in-depth discussion on Brexit is scheduled at this stage. The British press talked on Tuesday 31 January of rumours that May could possibly trigger Article 50 of the Treaty of the EU at the European summit on 9 March. A European diplomat said on Tuesday that activation on that date was hypothetically possible but had not yet been confirmed (see EUROPE 11714).
In Malta, European leaders might simply reaffirm their unity on this issue and restate a number of principles, for example, that the UK will have first to have formally left the EU before being able to enter into free-trade agreements with third countries. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)