Protocol on Abortion will be annexed to Malta’s Accession Treaty to the EU, which would give legal certainty that EU law, present or future would not be able to change Maltese law on abortion. Malta is not the first country to negotiate a protocol on abortion. Ireland, which has been a member of the EU since 1973, also has a special protocol on abortion.
A Protocol is a legally binding instrument that is enforceable in a court of law, including the European Court of Justice. The wording of this Protocol clearly ensures that in any case of possible conflict between EU law and Maltese law or jurisprudence on the issue of abortion, Maltese law will prevail. The text of the Protocol is the following:
"Nothing in the Treaty on European Union, or in the Treaties establishing the European Communities, or in the Treaties or Acts modifying or supplementing those Treaties, shall affect the application in...