Following the European Parliament Civil Liberties Committee’s recent visit to Malta, Sophia in 't Veld, the head of the delegation, said they had not been able to verify what progress has been made in the investigation into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. In ’t Veld also said that Maltese authorities are still looking into different hypotheses about who ordered the killing.

The delegation met with Maltese Deputy Prime Minister Christopher Fearne and the ministers for justice and finance, Owen Bonnici and Edward Scicluna, resepctively. They also questioned the attorney general, the chief of justice, police authorities and the heads of the Maltese Financial Services Authority and the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit.

They also exchanged views with journalists and representatives of the Daphne Project and assessed the situation with NGOs involved in the field of rule of law and the fight against corruption.

Scandals

In May 2018, the EP’s Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) set up a new working group to monitor the situation regarding rule of law and the fight against corruption across the European Union. The working group was tasked with focusing in particular on Malta and Slovakia, after investigative journalists were murdered in both EU countries in the last twelve months.

The working group’s mandate expires at the end of December 2018, when it is expected to recommend specific actions. The visit to Malta is the second of its kind to the island, and follows a similar visit to Slovakia after the killing on Ján Kuciak and his fiancée.

Sophia in 't Veld also discussed several scandals the working group was looking into, such as the alleged sale of humanitarian visas to Libyan nationals, money laundering through Maltese banks, and the alleged involvement of people in government circles in corruption cases.

The “Citizenship for investment” program, which offers Maltese citizenship to investors from non-EU countries, is not illegal in itself, according to in 't Veld, though it could provide a backdoor to the EU to undesired elements, putting pressure on passport-free travel within the Schengen area.

More than journalist killings

Parliamentarians of the LIBE Committee have said that in the case of Malta, they find the passiveness of the investigation institutions bodies there particularly worrying, even in the face of incriminating evidence.

“Everybody is pointing at someone else, so it is unclear who will initiate an investigation into suspicious activities: the police, the magistrates, or just a citizens complaint. We therefore propose to invite the Venice Commission to Malta to assess the systems in place as well as the application in practice,” an EP statement said.

Furthermore, MEPs propose to put a rule of law mechanism in place to analyze the situation of the rule of law in all member states on an ongoing basis.

As a next step, MEPs of the working group will draft a report about their conclusions, which will be presented during a public session of the Civil Liberties Committee before being sent to the EP Conference of Presidents for review. Lastly, a draft resolution may be made on the issue, to be voted on at the EP’s plenary session not earlier than January 2019.