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18 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 DECEMBER 2021 NEWS Christmas specials • The Daphne inquiry THE public inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Gal- izia was a moment of reckoning for the Labour Party, but also for the Maltese nation. The inquiry's conclusions came one month after Malta was placed on the FATF greyl- ist, and a few more months af- ter Keith Schembri, the party's one-time strategist and aide to former prime minister Joseph Muscat, was charged for mon- ey laundering and corruption. It took two years of cam- paigning by civil society for the government to set up a public inquiry commission in Sep- tember 2019. Calls for an inde- pendent public inquiry started mere days after Daphne Carua- na Galizia's murder in October 2017. These calls culminated with a resolution issued by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe calling on the government to establish, "within three months", an in- dependent public inquiry. Three months later, five days before the deadline, Muscat's government set up the public inquiry commission. It would be one of the last acts of Mus- cat, a month before his dis- graced exit with the arrest of Yorgen Fenech and the resig- nation of his chief of staff Keith Schembri. The Caruana Galizia family had first raised concerns over the choice of two members, namely Anthony Abela Med- ici – the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations at the time of the appointment – and Prof. Ian Refalo, who was a le- gal representative of the FIAU and Adrian Hillman, both sub- jects of Caruana Galizia's re- ports. They were duly replaced. Then the inquiry exceeded its deadline twice, with the board complaining of undue pressure as Robert Abela's government consistently accused the in- quiry of 'overstepping its re- mit' and becoming politicised. Abela even admitted he had reservations over the terms of reference for the inquiry, dub- bing it an "experiment" that was failing to keep to the terms The Daphne public inquiry: Where do we go from here? NICOLE MEILAK The real benchmark by which we measure the public inquiry's impact must not be the quality of government's reforms but the government's ability, and willingness, to hold people accountable for their actions The inquiry's proposals are much- needed changes, but rule of law is not strengthened by simply changing how the guardians of the law get appointed to their position Rural Development Programme for Malta 2014-2020 Part financed by the European Union Co-financing Rate: 75% European Union; 25% Government of Malta 26 th December 2021 European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development 2014-2020 PRE – ANNOUNCEMENT The Director General, Funds and Programmes Division, within the Parliamentary Secretariat for European Funds announces the re-issuing of calls for the following measures under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020. Applications will open on Monday, 3 rd January 2022 and close on Friday, 25 th February 2022. Measure Number Title of Measure 3.1 Support for new participation in quality schemes 3.2 Support for information and promotion activities implemented by groups of producers in the internal market 4.2 Support for Investments in processing/marketing and/or development of agriculture products 4.3 Support for investments in infrastructure related to development, modernisation or adaptation of agriculture and forestry (Focus Area 2A) 6.4 Support for investments in creation and development of non-agricultural activities Further details on the application process will be published in due course on the website of the Managing Authority www.eufunds.gov.mt. For more information, the Managing Authority can be contacted on rdd.opm@gov.mt or 2200 1108. Rural Development Programme for Malta 2014-2020 Part financed by the European Union Co-financing Rate: 75% European Union; 25% Government of Malta The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas 26 th December 2021 European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development 2014-2020 PRE – ANNOUNCEMENT The Director General, Funds and Programmes Division, within the Parliamentary Secretariat for European Funds announces the re-issuing of calls for the following measures under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020. Applications will open on Monday, 3 rd January 2022 and close on Friday, 25 th February 2022. Measure Number Title of Measure 3.1 Support for new participation in quality schemes 3.2 Support for information and promotion activities implemented by groups of producers in the internal market 4.2 Support for Investments in processing/marketing and/or development of agriculture products 4.3 Support for investments in infrastructure related to development, modernisation or adaptation of agriculture and forestry (Focus Area 2A) 6.4 Support for investments in creation and development of non-agricultural activities Further details on the application process will be published in due course on the website of the Managing Authority www.eufunds.gov.mt. For more information, the Managing Authority can be contacted on rdd.opm@gov.mt or 2200 1108.