The Forum Unions Maltin has insisted with the Prime Minister that there should be no deal with the UK based on open or covert discrimination against EU citizens exercising their freedom of movement.

Forum released the contents of a letter it sent to Joseph Muscat as British Prime Minister David Cameron attempts to renegotiate his country's EU terms ahead of an in-out referendum.

It said that the notion of a two-speed Europe when it comes to its social dimension is counterproductive as it would allow the UK to undercut other parts of the EU by providing lower levels of protection for British workers.

"What is not included in the list of demands (e.g. workers’ rights) cannot be put on the table at a later stage of the negotiation - the list is taken to be exhaustive and cannot be re-opened."

The Maltese unions said competitiveness should not be defined exclusively in terms of deregulation and the latter should not be intended as a proxy for dismantling the social acquis communitaire or preventing the adoption of future measures to cater for an evolving labour market.

The Forum is joining all the other confederations in Europe on this topic, as well as the UK’s own TUC and our mother European confederation the ETUC.