Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1266179
5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 JULY 2020 OPINION Saviour Balzan @saviourbalzan YESTERDAY the European Commission took Austria, Bel- gium and the Netherlands to the Court of Justice of the European Union, with a request for finan- cial sanctions, for failing to fully implement the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive into their national law. This directive is all about the emphasis on the ultimate ben- eficial ownership and due dil- igence – on what and who is a politically exposed person, and, of course, the gambling and on- line gaming industry. The Commission concluded that AMLD4 had not been ful- ly transposed into national law. The incomplete transposition concerns fundamental aspects of the anti-money laundering framework, such as betting and gambling legislation (Austria), mechanisms under which the Financial Intelligence Units exchange documents and in- formation (Belgium), and the information to be provided on the beneficial ownership of cor- porate and other legal entities (Netherlands). Malta has since transposed the 5th directive which offers even more stringent rules. Now I detest social meetings with ambassadors, usually for the very simple reason that though I believe that as a country we have numerous shortcomings and grave political problems, I find it very difficult to be 'lectured' by diplomats who have a plethora of problems in their own coun- try which are either worse to similar. It is like being told about the issue of press freedom in Malta from the US ambassador, when in his own country he has a Pres- ident who treats journalists as if they were horse dung. We have serious issues in Mal- ta, but let us not forget about the high-handedness of some countries on Malta – special reference could go to the Neth- erlands, whose leadership and emissaries are gravely hypocriti- cal, considering that they too are accused of having aggressive tax planning regimes (and therefore all the more serious given their AMLD4 shortcomings), as well as a thriving drug smuggling and illegal sex industry. Of course, Malta has its own organised crime problem, and indeed cor- ruption… but being lectured to by such countries is downright deceitful. It is an ancient habit to see countries like these pontificate to smaller nations such as Mal- ta about rule of law (justifiably, one might admit) and press free- doms when their countries are hardly exemplary. The Nether- lands has its own human rights emissary, which I guess makes it quite easy to moralistically cov- er up its aggressive tax practic- es and other seedier parts of the economy. And though we rightly com- plain of press freedoms all the time in this country, we tend to forget the cruel regime of defa- mation laws that the free press in Europe constantly combats. Many newspaper editors abroad are constantly bombard- ed by powerful legal firms repre- senting private industry and pol- iticians with gagging threats if stories about their clients, how- ever tame, are published. Unlike Malta, where court fees are ex- pensive but not exorbitant, court litigation abroad can be beyond the means of the independent press. All this brings us to the Mon- eyval debate, and whether Malta will pass the test and not suffer the fate of greylisting. The big question is whether Malta will have done enough by judgement day. I guess there are those in Mal- ta who hope that Malta is grey- listed and there are many more who hope that this will not ma- terialise because it would lead to the eradication of our financial services and gaming industry – which would fundamentally hit us in the nerve centre of our economy. I have no doubt that many countries want to see Malta lose its competitive edge so that they can move in. I am not wrong about this: all countries are only interested in their own econo- mies (naturally), and emissaries abroad are primarily tasked to represent their home countries' companies' interests. I recall that when the Maltese airport was being privatised, a US company that was bidding for the airport was not only rep- resented by a number of paid lobbyists and marketing agen- cies, but also actively by the US embassy. The same happened when Air Malta had to choose between the US-built Boeing and the Europe- an-built Airbus – there again, the US embassy took an active role playing the part of a prime lobbyist. The same is happening today in the Steward hospital contro- versy, where the last meeting held in Malta saw the US chargé d'affaires Mark Schapiro active- ly support Steward boss Ralph Le Torre in a bullish attempt to squeeze more out of the Maltese government. Some might call it bullying. Whatever it is, a dose of realism is needed amongst many Maltese to realise that bigger countries will squeeze the pips out of the Maltese, if it is in their interest to do so – irrespective of whether or not it's the right or wrong thing to do. Malta's Moneyval challenge is very much dependant on how certain countries can be convinced that Malta deserves their support. Even the United States, with its influence in the FATF and of course, Moneyval, is crucial. Every country – Italy, France, the UK, Germany – will put their interest first, and even when their shit hits the fan, they will do everything in their power to bury their own sins. For us, it is a bit more difficult. We have a political crisis brought upon us by the unbelievable de- cisions of the Joseph Muscat administration – decisions that cost Muscat his premiership and dented the credibility of this nation. It seems, however, that some kind of action is being tak- en to address our good govern- ance lacunae, even in a climate where we have a lame opposi- tion led by an Opposition lead- er who does not have the moral standing to serve as an alterna- tive prime minister. We must take stock of the situ- ation and realise that we cannot sit by and simply take things at face value. We have great faults as a na- tion, but we are no different to other nations. And it is about time we come to terms that in our endeavours to hit out at our politicians, our blundering polit- ical system, our 'Latin' approach and 'everything goes' attitude, and alas, even our ingrained cor- ruption, we should not destroy the very edifice that makes our nation what it is. We should be proud enough to stand our ground. Because it is here on this small island state that we want our children to grow up and it is here that at least we want to continue living. Standing our ground