Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1497950
13 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 26 APRIL 2023 OPINION IF I were David Casa, I'd be rath- er mightily pissed-off with the European Parliament right now. I mean: just look at the all the hard work he had put in, until so recently, to ensure that the EP finally got to discuss his pre- cious resolution about 'the Rule- Of-Law situation in Malta' (for the eleventh time in the last five years, please note). Just listen to all those speech- es in Brussels – or was it Stras- bourg, this time? - in which the Nationalist MEP passionately tried to convince around 700 empty chairs (no small feat, I can assure you), that: "The situation [in Malta] is getting worse. The state capture of institutions is protecting people in power, for them to get rich on the backs of workers and families..." Not to mention all the negoti- ations/horse-trading that must have taken place, between all the European Parliament's diverse political groupings, to see to it that: a) Malta even got to be dis- cussed at all (along with Spain), in an EP debate that was orgin- ally supposed to only be about Greece... and; b) the European Parliament would fix a date – 'during the April plenary', we were told – for the final resolution to be voted upon by all 705 MEPs: including, naturally, all the 700 who never actually showed up for a single one of those EP 'rule-of-law' ses- sions (and as such, presumably wouldn't have a clue as to what they were actually voting on, an- yway...) But, oh well. By now you will surely have worked out that something, somewhere, didn't quite go according to Casa's care- fully-laid plans. If nothing else, because the EP's 'April plenary' came and went, last week... and, oh look: there was no final vote on that 'Malta-Greece-Spain res- olution', after all. Why not, you might be ask- ing? Let's see now. According to a MaltaToday report last week (quoting a separate arti- cle in Brussels-based newspa- per, Euroactiv), the only official explanation given was that: "A resolution on the rule of law in Spain, Greece, and Malta was postponed by the European Par- liament's top decision-making body, because top MEPs feared it would INTERFERE IN THEIR RESPECTIVE PARTIES' ELEC- TION CHANCES." [my empha- sis]. Yes, folks, you read correctly. It seems that: "The resolution was withdrawn from the ple- nary agenda on 13 April dur- ing a closed-door meeting of the Conference of Presidents (CoP), comprised of the politi- cal groups' chiefs who decide on Parliament's business and legis- lative planning." And in case there was any doubt regarding their specific motives, in removing this item from the Parliamentary agen- da: we even have it from an EPP spokesperson – that is to say, one of David Casa's own political col- leagues - that: "There has been an agreement to freeze any kind of resolution, mission or hearing targeting a particular country, IN THE WEEKS LEADING UP TO AN ELECTION"! [my emphasis, again] Honestly, though. How does someone like David Casa even react to an announcement like that, anyway? After all, it was only on March 30 that he him- self delivered a fiery speech be- fore the European Parliament: in which the very first words he uttered – to his highly-attentive audience, of around 700 empty chairs – were: "The Rule of Law is a funda- mental principle of the European Union; and therefore, we have to take action whenever it is threat- ened!' And yet: just a few short weeks later, the EP's own 'Conference of Presidents' (you know: the people who get to decide what is important enough, or otherwise, to get discussed in the Europe- an Parliament) suddenly turns around, and informs us all – as nonchalantly as you please – that: "Erm... you're kidding, right? The Rule of Law? A 'fundamen- tal principle of the European Un- ion'? Don't be daft! It's just one of the many, many issues that the European Parliament likes to 'kick up a big stink about', from time to time.. you know: just to keep up the pretence that we DO actually give a toss about 'justice', 'equality', 'democracy', and all the rest of that crap... "... when the reality – in case you never quite noticed it be- fore - is that we only ever 'take action', on Rule-of-Law issues, when it's in our own political interests to do so. And certainly NOT 'whenever it is threatened' (otherwise, it would be like that famous Terry Pratchett quote, from the Discworld novels: 'You can't go around arresting The Thieves Guild! I mean, we'd be at it all day!') "And besides: even on those occasions when we DO actually pretend to give a toss about the Rule Of Law – like we did in all those resolutions against Malta (11 in the past five years, remem- ber?) – you can rest assured that it will not be because the situa- tion there is significantly worse, or better, than in any other Euro- pean member State... "... but only because Malta happens to be one of those soft, easy targets, that can very safely be 'picked on' (or 'made an ex- ample of', if you prefer), at any given moment.... without either the EPP, or the S&D actually losing too many votes, in the process. "I mean... why else do you think we would have issued so many 'Rule-Of-Law' resolutions against Malta, ever since around 2017 (it works out at more than two a year, by the way)... but then, always manage to some- how 'avoid' ever taking the same sort of action, against (let's face it: much worse) offenders, such as Poland or Hungary? "Or – more appropriately still – countries like Greece and Spain: both of which just to happen to be facing imminent, pivotal elec- tions, even as we speak... with the consequence that any 'im- pact', arising from any 'negative' EP resolution, could very easily cause either the EPP, or S&D (that is to say: OURSELVES) to... actually 'lose an election', for cry- ing out loud!" "And we can't exactly allow something like THAT to hap- pen, can we? No, no: much eas- ier – and safer – to simply carry on doing what we've always done in the past: and keep turning a blind eye to the much more glar- ing Rule Of Law infringements, committed by larger, more in- fluential countries like Greece, Spain, Poland and Hungary... "...while 'compensating' for that lack of action, by continuously clamping down on smaller, 'saf- er' targets such as Malta. You know: the sort of country where it doesn't really matter WHAT happens, at the end of the day... because the EPP, S&D, and all the rest of the European 'political family', won't really be affected by the outcome, either way. "There: THAT, in a nutshell, is that the Rule of Law REAL- LY represents, to the European Parliament. Not a 'fundamental principle' – very far from it, in fact – but just another political 'weapon', to add to the rest... and to be used (or not used, as the case may be) at will, in the nev- er-ending hostilities between the EP's warring political factions. "Simple as that, really..." Oh, OK, OK: I know what you're all thinking. I'm no longer quoting from any 'Belgian-based newspaper' there, am I? And those excerpts do not represent a literal, word-for-word transcript, of what any of those 'EP chiefs' REALLY said last week, do they? Well... no, of course they don't. But at the same time... erm... yes, actually: maybe they do. For if you go by the old max- im of 'actions speak louder than words' – and then throw into the mix a couple of words that WERE actually stated (namely: "There has been an agreement to freeze any [ resolution] IN THE WEEKS LEADING UP TO AN ELECTION..." And above all, when you also consider that (to quote from the original MaltaToday report): a) "In Greece, national elections are scheduled on 21 May, and EPP's governing New Democracy party faces a neck-and-neck race with leftist Syriza after a series of scandals in the past months involving the government's in- volvement in wiretapping and negligence in a train-wreck acci- dent." b) "In Spain, regional and mu- nicipal elections will occur on 28 May, and national elections are scheduled for December. Re- cent national election polls show that Partido Popular (EPP) is at the top with 31.5%, followed by governing party PSOE (S&D) at 25.8%"; c) "In Malta"... Hang on, wait. There isn't any part about 'elections in Malta' in that article, is there? Quite possi- bly, because – as you will hardly need me to remind you – there AREN'T actually any elections, scheduled to be held here at any time 'in the next few weeks'... I stand to be corrected, of course: but the last time this country held a General Election, was actually around this time last year: in March 2020. So unless the reference is to next year's MEP elections (which, in any case, will be held simultaneously all over Europe)... ... there IS no 'imminent elec- tion' in Malta at all, as far as I can see. And by the same token: there IS no actual 'reason' – not even of the woefully unsatisfac- tory variety, supplied by that EPP spokesman I quoted earlier – to even postpone that 'Rule of Law' resolution, in the first place.. or at least: not insofar as Malta was concerned. But the EP went ahead and postponed it anyway – citing, as justification, the fact that it might 'interfere in their respec- tive parties' election chances' (in elections that were happening in Greece, Spain... basically: every- where but Malta)... And, well... what does all that tell us, about how value the Eu- ropean Parliament REALLY at- taches, to 'fundamental princi- ples' such as the Rule Of Law: if not a literal, word-for-word tran- script, of those selfsame words, above...? So much, I suppose, for the European Parliament's 'Rule of Law' crusade... Raphael Vassallo Anton Refalo is Agricultural Minister