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10 OPINION Arnold Cassola is chairperson of Momentum maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 28 MAY 2025 IN September 2023, Newsbook reported that Foreign Minis- ter Ian Borg held a meeting with the secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mathias Cormann, at the organisation's Paris head- quarters since Malta was seek- ing to step up its efforts to join the organisation. A statement issued by the ministry said that Borg com- municated the government's plans to submit an accession letter for consideration by the OECD's ministerial council. Borg was quoted saying that the Maltese government looked forward to starting discussions on terms, conditions and pro- cesses for Malta's possible ac- cession to the OECD. In November 2023 Ian Borg reaffirmed that Malta would be seeking membership of the OECD in the coming months. This time he did this in the Maltese parliament. In fact, according to Times of Malta, Borg addressed parliament to declare that the government was to formally ask to join the OECD soon. Why was Malta so keen to be- come a member of OECD? The answer is to be found in the humiliation our country was subjected to after former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat put his chief of staff, Keith Schembri, who stands accused with sev- eral criminal acts, in charge of all things happening in Malta. In collusion with high-rank- ing police officers like Silvio Valletta and Ian Abdilla, the former head of the Financial Crimes Investigation Depart- ment (FCID), and with shady businesspeople like Yorgen Fenech, Paul Apap Bologna, Armin Ernst, Ram Tumuluri, Shaquat Ali and others, Schem- bri conducted our country's major financial deals from his Castille office—similar to how mafia bosses run their criminal organisations from Palermo or Reggio Calabria. Keith Schembri's criminal be- haviour cost Joseph Muscat the successorship of the EU Coun- cil of Ministers presidency, in replacement of Donald Tusk. German Chancellor Angela Merkel made sure to phone up all EU leaders to tell them that Muscat was out because of his association with Schembri. The unfortunate thing is that all of us Maltese were made to pay the price for Schem- bri's behaviour and that of his criminal associates. Daphne Caruana Galizia paid with her life in 2017. In June 2021, the rest of us all had to witness our country being put on the FATF grey list. At this point, it was game over for all those Maltese governments and finance min- isters who had played about with the laws governing tax avoidance and tax evasion. In October 2021, Malta's newly appointed Finance Minister Clyde Caruana was subjected to the humiliation of having a 15% minimum tax on foreign companies—many of whom had been paying an effective tax rate of only 5%—imposed upon our country by the OECD. This commitment has not yet been fulfilled since Malta requested an exemption for a few years. Caruana tried to sweeten the pill by stating that "every coun- try is bowing its head to the agreement". In reality, what was happen- ing was that OECD was now imposing harsh financial de- cisions on Malta, without our country being able to influence decisions, since it was not a member of the organisation. The government was so des- perate to become a member of the organisation that electoral promise number 906 in the PL's 2022 electoral manifesto reads: 'In the next legislature our country will apply to become a full member of the OECD. This would give Malta a seat at the table where policy decisions impacting the most developed countries are taken. As a mem- ber of the OECD, our country will commit itself to follow the best practice in economic and social governance.' In February 2024, Robert Ab- ela stepped up the ante, since in his meeting with the for- eign ambassadors accredited to Malta, he declared that "Malta will be formally applying to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Develop- ment". He had said Malta's enrolment in the OECD will not only increase the coun- try's contribution on interna- tional policy, but also helps in "pushing the interests of small states". Over 15 months have passed since Abela's pompous declara- tion. And, as with many other declarations by the prime min- ister, it is all empty blabber and colourful bluff. In fact, I have just checked on the state of Malta's OECD application and I have found out that Malta never ap- plied for OECD membership. While Malta has expressed its 2023/24 interest in apply- ing, as of May 2025, Malta has not yet applied. In order to be part of the OECD, a country must have a structured form of co-operation and enhanced participation in OECD bodies Abela's bluff on OECD membership Arnold Cassola Ian Borg meeting OECD Secretary-general Mathias Cormann in 2023 (Photo: Hervé Cortinat/OECD via Foreign Ministry)

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