Multilateral relations with the United Nations, European Union and the principal international organisations allow the Sovereign Order of Malta to take its expertise from the field to the diplomatic table.

The relations between the European Union and the Sovereign Order of Malta are excellent; they have evolved almost constantly along with the frequent institutional reform of the European Union institutions.

These relations have been facilitated by a number of positive elements, including :

• the positive opinion of the European Union staff and leadership towards the Sovereign Order of Malta (President Manuel Barroso, President Herman Van Rompuy, the 4 Chiefs of Protocol of EU institutions involved);
• the relocation of the «liaison office» to the current location in the European quarter in 2013;
• the extremely successful impact of the two major meetings on the protection of access to Holy sites (Brussels in March 2012 and Limassol in November 2012).

These relations, which started before the second millennium, encompass a stronger and reinforced relationship at the diplomatic and political level which paving the way to several potential fields of cooperation between specific EU directorates (ECHO , HOME , NEAR, etc ) which, however, need to be further fleshed out in addition to the ongoing Order’s projects co-financed with ECHO.