The European Court of Justice will still be 'dishing out judgments' into the 2020s, the prime minister of Malta, the country holding the EU’s presidency, stated. Joseph Muscat was responding to the pledge of British Prime Minister Theresa May to take the UK out of the jurisdiction of the European court. Her pledge came after The Independent revealed that ministers are resigned to European judges taking decisions in British cases for the years ahead. Muscat made it clear that any transition trade arrangements, which could last into the 2020s, would see EU institutions retain the upper hand.