Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1526409
JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt 8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 8 SEPTEMBER 2024 NEWS Standards Commissioner in the dark over THE government intends to present a broad package of re- forms aimed at strengthening governance and integrity later this year, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister has told Malta- Today. The announcement was made in response to questions on whether the government plans to introduce a 'transparency register' requiring ministers to log their meetings with lobby- ists. This proposal was made by the Standards Commissioner in 2020 and endorsed in separate reports issued by the Organisa- tion for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2022. MaltaToday also asked the Prime Minister to explain why he had failed to reply to three re- minders from both the previous and current Standards Commis- sioner urging him to act on the OECD recommendations, as confirmed on record by the cur- rent commissioner, Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Azzopardi. Replying to MaltaToday, the OPM spokesperson did not spe- cifically refer to the introduction of a transparency register but hinted that the reforms would include these recommendations. "Following the introduction of the Anti-SLAPP Legislation, the government is committed to presenting an additional package of reforms as part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen governance, institutional integrity, and the rule of law framework later this year," the OPM spokesperson said. "These reforms will be based on recommendations from the Eu- ropean Commission in its Rule of Law Report, as well as frame- works based on recommenda- tions from the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life and other bodies," the spokesperson added. Standards Commissioner in the dark On Thursday when contacted by MaltaToday, the Commis- sioner for Standards in Public Life said he is yet uninformed as to when Robert Abela's adminis- tration will enact a transparency register on meetings between ministers and lobbyists, and a more comprehensive code of ethics for Cabinet members. The two proposals were in fact made four years ago and en- dorsed by the OECD, with three reminders sent to the Prime Minister by former and current standards commissioners. The proposed transparency registry would oblige ministers to log any communication, in- cluding electronic communica- tion, with lobbyists, which would be available for public scrutiny. When asked why the recom- mendations had not yet been enacted, a spokesperson for Standards Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi, replied that "it is up to the government to take action to implement these reports", insisting that "a law to regulate lobbying should be drafted and enacted, and new codes of ethics for MPs and ministers should be introduced in the form of legal notices under the Standards in Public Life Act." When asked what pressure has been exerted by the office to en- act the proposed legislation, the spokesperson referred to two let- ters sent in July and September 2022 by former commissioner George Hyzler in which he had asked the Prime Minister to for- mally recommend that the gov- ernment should implement the OECD proposals on lobbying and on the codes of ethics for MPs and ministers. In November 2023, the current Commissioner also wrote to the Prime Minister to recommend that the government should im- plement the OECD proposals on asset and interest declarations by MPs. The Commissioner also pointed out that his predeces- sor's recommendations on reg- ulating lobbying, remained out- standing. Asked about the outcome of these letters the commissioner replied that the "office has not received any response to these letters" adding that the office is "not aware of any action being taken by the government to im- plement the relevant reports." The transparency register saga A transparency register was first proposed by former Stand- ards Commissioner George Hy- zler in the document 'Towards the Regulation of Lobbying in Malta', issued in February 2020. The paper proposed that all in- dividuals and bodies that carry out lobbying should be governed by a code of conduct. In addition, some of these in- dividuals and bodies should be required to register in a Regis- ter of Lobbyists that would be maintained by the Commission- er for Standards. These lobbyists should submit regular returns on their activities. Furthermore, the paper proposed that ministers, parliamentary secretaries, and the heads and deputy heads of their secretariats should regis- ter all relevant communications (including meetings) in a trans- parency register which would be accessible to the public. Moreover, the commissioner also proposed that ministers, parliamentary secretaries and some other designated public officials should be barred from acting as lobbyists for a speci- fied period after they cease to hold office. This would prevent private actors from gaining priv- ileged access to government de- cision-making through senior officials who have recently left office. Subsequently, in July 2022 the commissioner also proposed revisions to the code of ethics for MPs and ministers, such as obliging elected officials to re- cord all gifts, benefits and hos- pitality received and bestowed in an official register and to record their financial and non-financial interests in an official register. The revised code precluded ministers from having a profita- ble relationship with any entity which they had dealt with during their term of office for a period of three years after leaving office. It also precluded unofficial meetings like informal lunch meetings: "Meetings with per- sons who have an interest in ob- taining permits, authorisations, concessions or other benefits from the state should be held in an official setting in the presence of officials." Any official meetings were to be recorded in the transpar- ency register with "minutes of such meetings… kept for record and audit purposes". And, sig- nificantly, ministers would no longer be allowed to conduct of- ficial business through unofficial email accounts. Both reports were reviewed by the OECD in 2022 as part of Former standards commissioner George Hyzler (left) had proposed the creation of a transparency register to regulate lobbying, but the recommendation was ignored by government and reminders sent by him and current commissioner, Joseph Azzopardi (right), have gone unanswered.