Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/582103
4 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 7 OctObEr 2015 News 73 passports sold to main IIP applicants Simon busuttil pledges to publish the names of naturalised IIP citizens if he gets elected as Prime Minister MIrIaM DallI 73 passports have been sold to main applicants since the launch of the Individual Invest- ment Scheme, Opposition lead- er Simon Busuttil said. These main applicants have a total of 176 dependents, whose passports have not yet been is- sued. Speaking to the press follow- ing a meeting of the IIP moni- toring committee at Castille yesterday evening, Busuttil re- iterated his criticism at the gov- ernment refusal to publish the names of the people who have been sold citizenship. "If I get elected as Prime Min- ister, I will publish their names for the sake of transparency," Busuttil pledged. He pointed out that the IIP doesn't even require citizen- ship applicants to actually live in Malta for 12 months to be considered "effective residents". Indeed, the residence system allows applicants to clock up residence points by donating money to Maltese charities, ef- fectively allowing them to pay more money to reduce their residency requirements. Prime Minister Joseph Mus- cat said that €75 million of the money that has been raised through the sale of passports has gone through social funds, of which 70% will be used to fund social projects. He dismissed Busuttil 's ar- gument against the secrecy of the newly naturalized citizens, arguing that the government is fully abiding by the law. "We had sought the Attorney General 's advice on whether to publish the naturalized IIP citizens separately or not, and he told us that the law prevents us rom segregating names," he said. "The criteria are being fol- lowed, and due diligence proc- ess is more rigorous than those of similar schemes." Dalligate probe: Brussels breached tobacco transparency rules Matthew Vella THe eU Ombudsman has upheld a complaint by Brussels-based transparency NGO Corporate eu- rope Observatory (CeO) against the european Commission over its failure to implement UN to- bacco lobby rules. In May 2014, CeO submitted a complaint about the Commission's failure to properly implement World Health Organisation rules to publish details of any meetings held with tobacco lobbyists. Ombudsman emily O'Reilly has now urged the Commission to publish details of all meetings with tobacco lobbyists online, saying its failure to comply with the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was tanta- mount to 'maladministration'. O'Reilly also asked the Commis- sion for an update on its promise to introduce a mandatory trans- parency register for lobbyists. The eU is a signatory to Arti- cle 5.3 of the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Con- trol, which is intended to protect decision-making "from commer- cial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry" – obliging governments to limit interactions with the tobacco industry and en- sures the transparency of those interactions that do occur. The resulting Ombudsman probe involved an inspection of official files and staff agendas at the Commission's HQ, the Berlay- mont, to identify possible meet- ings with tobacco lobbyists. The Ombudsman's investiga- tion found that a top official from the Commission's legal service had declared no meetings with tobacco industry representatives despite having meetings with a lawyer working for tobacco giant Philip Morris. The Commission's contacts with the tobacco industry attracted major controversy following reve- lations of heavy lobbying pressure during the 2012-2014 revision of the eU's tobacco products direc- tive, including the Dalligate scan- dal that saw the eU's health com- missioner John Dalli resigning in disgrace in October 2013 after an OLAF investigation accused him of being aware of a bribe. "This ruling is a significant victory for the fight against the sinister scheming of this lethal industry," CeO's research and campaigns coordinator Olivier Hoedeman said. "The Commission's complacency and secrecy over its contacts with the tobacco industry are deeply regrettable – but part of a pattern. We hope it will finally get the mes- sage that it must fulfil its UN obli- gations and take strong measures to prevent the undue influence of tobacco lobbyists. "The Commission must now im- plement WHO Convention rules across all departments, publish details and minutes of all meet- ings with tobacco industry repre- sentatives and introduce a manda- tory lobby transparency register to ensure that tobacco industry lobbyists are forced to disclose in- formation about their lobbying." The new ruling follows other, re- cent Ombudsman rulings on sev- eral other CeO complaints about secrecy and conflicts of interests emerging from the Commission's relations with tobacco industry. In December 2013, the Om- budsman slammed the Commis- sion for its failure to act against Michel Petite, a lawyer at law firm Clifford Chance whose clients in- clude Philip Morris, and who was simultaneously acting as head of the committee which advises on whether the Commission should authorise the new professional activities of ex-commissioners. Green MeP José Bové branded the appointment a "disgrace". "Rules have been put in place that are binding [in the] convention on tobacco control, which says that you cannot have relationships that are under the table. All eU mem- ber states have signed up to this. There are clear rules, and those rules have not been applied." EU Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly has called on the Europen Commission to publish details of all meetings with tobacco lobbyists online PN leader Simon Busuttil speaks to the press following yesterday's IIP monitoring committee PHOTOGRAPHY BY Ray attaRd Teachers' union threatens industrial action over Great Siege 'fiasco' THe Malta Union of Teachers has warned that it will order industrial action in schools if the government doesn't sort out the "fiasco" involving primary school teachers facing clashes between their school duties and participation in a state project to commemorate the 450th an- niversary of the Great Siege. In a statement, the MUT said that the government has until Monday to address this problem if it wants to avoid industrial ac- tion amongst teachers. Some art, music and drama primary state school teachers have been chosen to help organ- ise a show for the Great Siege anniversary. However, the MUT said that "a serious lack of coor- dination" between Directorates within the education Ministry has led to these teachers having to cancel their lessons to partici- pate in the show. "The Great Siege activity has been planned since before the summer months and involves a large number of children and schools," the MUT said. "De- spite this, and despite the Direc- torate [for Quality and Stand- ards in education] knowing full well how many people would be involved in it, it still didn't pro- vide back-up teachers to schools to make up for the project. "This means that, although ed- ucational authorities knew that this project could potentially result in a breach of the sectoral agreement, they showed utter lack of coordination and lack of respect towards teachers."