Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/900922
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2017 News 4 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Wednesday's vote is a foregone conclusion as most MEPs are expected to back the resolu- tion. Timmermans shook his head as he fended off accusations from Nationalist MEP David Casa who accused him of "do- ing nothing" about what he called the "collapse of rule of law in Malta." Casa specifically pointed to the fact that Pilatus Bank in Malta had processed money transfers from Azeri oligarchs, the appointment of Commis- sioner of Police Lawrence Cuta- jar, the lack of investigation of FIAU reports, and a culture of impunity as being responsible for the deterioration of rule of law in Malta. "Daphne was a brave, fear- less, unstoppable force. She brushed off threats, demonisa- tion and abuse. Far too often she was the last person stand- ing. Alone. Against corruption and abuse of power," Casa said. Roberta Metsola on her part said the Maltese had sacrificed too much for her "not to speak out as our authorities pil- lage our children's legacy and destroy our reputation. This house – you – have become the last bastion of hope for the peo- ple I represent. That is what the EU means to us – hope. Hope and a guarantee that the rule of law will always be protected." "Daphne Caruana Galizia was executed. Assassinated. Her killing exposed the urgency of the situation in Malta where the ruling Party has used its majority to run roughshod over the rule of law. "Malta is a great country but we have to have the courage to say: that it is unacceptable that journalists are killed with im- punity. That it is outrageous that the press is under threat. That it is disgraceful that the Police refuse to investigate cor- ruption." Various MEPs, mainly social- ists, pointed out contradic- tions in the way the European Parliament had dealt with clear breaches of fundamental rights in Hungary and Poland, and the way Malta was being dealt with. But even here, Mal- ta could not evade the long- standing criticism that its low effective taxation for foreign companies opened the gates to gross tax avoidance that was affecting other EU member states. One Austrian MEP in par- ticular, from the far-right Freedom Party, claimed Mal- ta's car bombs and the mur- der of a journalist made the country look like "an episode straight out of Netflix's Nar- cos" – the TV series on Pa- blo Escobar's drug cartel. Labour MEPs put up, as ex- pected, a defence of the Mal- tese government. Alfred Sant said Malta was be- ing "assailed for perceived defi- ciencies in the rule of law on the basis of jumbled facts and semi- facts, unproven allegations taken at face value, innuendoes and issues irrelevant to the rule of law." He said that while the Maltese government had invited con- stant scrutiny from the Com- mission, the country was being targeted by prejudices drawn from partisan interests. "Is this being done because in the wash of interests and allegiances that define this House, it is easiest to overlook, from all EU member states, Malta's realities and to cast doubts on the motives of the Maltese government?" Labour MEP Miriam Dalli called the EPP's claim that the rule of law in Malta had col- lapsed as a "partisan-political exaggeration". "I ask. In a state where the rule of law collapses, would new laws such as the Party Financ- ing Law be enacted? Or the re- moval of prescription from cas- es of corruption by politicians? Or the Whistleblower's Protec- tion Act? In a state where the freedom of expression is threat- ened, would an act emending the Press Act be presented to abolish criminal libel and pro- hibit the issuing of precaution- ary warrants in civil libels?" Dalli also said that the Finan- cial Security Index issued by the Tax Justice Network considered Malta to be a more transpar- ent state than Germany, United Kingdom and Luxembourg which are all prominent play- ers in the offshore financial ser- vices. "Unfortunately, the haste of some members of this Parlia- ment to condemn Malta with- out even trying to objectively analyse the reality continues to confirm the idea of double standards adopted in relation to different member states." Government reaction In a statement, the Maltese government said it joined in expressing "disdain" at the as- sassination of Daphne Caru- ana Galizia, and welcomed statements by the Presidency of European Council Matti Maasikas commending the government for its immediate action on the investigation. "First Vice-President Frans Timmermans stated that there are no general concerns of non-compliance by Malta and simultaneously asked the MEPs not to jump to conclu- sions and then look for facts to support them," the statement read. "The Maltese government welcomes any sort of oversight into the investigations, with full respect of the country's sovereignty and laws. "Similarly, Malta welcomes any delegation from the Euro- pean Parliament aimed at get- ting a better and informed in- sight of issues relating to rule of law in the country. How- ever, it would have been more desirable that today's debate took place after such a visit for members to assess the situa- tion on their own." It said that "gratuitous" po- litical attacks were unwar- ranted and that the text of the motion – to be voted upon on Wednesday – contained fac- tual inaccuracies and partisan political bias, "thereby raising concerns whether the same political groups have indepen- dently verified information or whether they relied on incor- rect information that was fed to them." Malta also took issue with MEPs' views on its tax system and the sale of passports. "A European Parliament del- egation itself concluded that Malta's tax system is fully compliant with EU and OECD rules. Malta's citizenship pro- gramme is the direct result of dialogue with the institutions, and proudly sits along those from other Member States." WŽƐŝƚŝŽŶŵĂLJďĞĐŽͲĨƵŶĚĞĚƚŚƌŽƵŐŚƵƌŽƉĞĂŶhŶŝŽŶ &ƵŶĚŝŶŐͬŝůĂƚĞƌĂů&ƵŶĚƐ o SENIOR MANAGER (EU FUNDS) o PROGRAMME MANAGER (EU FUNDS) o PROGRAMME OFFICER (EU FUNDS) ƉƉůŝĐĂƚŝŽŶƐ ĂƌĞ ŝŶǀŝƚĞĚ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ƉŽƐŝƚŝŽŶƐ ŽĨ ^ĞŶŝŽƌ DĂŶĂŐĞƌ ;h &ƵŶĚƐͿ͕ WƌŽŐƌĂŵŵĞ DĂŶĂŐĞƌ ;h &ƵŶĚƐͿ ĂŶĚ WƌŽŐƌĂŵŵĞ KĨĨŝĐĞƌ ;h &ƵŶĚƐͿ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ DŝŶŝƐƚƌLJĨŽƌƵƌŽƉĞĂŶĨĨĂŝƌƐĂŶĚƋƵĂůŝƚLJ͘ ƉƉůŝĐĂƚŝŽŶƐǁŝůůďĞƌĞĐĞŝǀĞĚĂƚƚŚĞŽƌƉŽƌĂƚĞ^ĞƌǀŝĐĞƐŝƌĞĐƚŽƌĂƚĞ͕DŝŶŝƐƚƌLJĨŽƌ ƵƌŽƉĞĂŶĨĨĂŝƌƐĂŶĚƋƵĂůŝƚLJ͕ϯϭ͕dĂůͲWŝůĂƌ͕DĂƌƐĂŵdžĞƚƚZŽĂĚ͕sĂůůĞƚƚĂ͕s>dϭϴϱϬ ďLJŶŽƚůĂƚĞƌƚŚĂŶŶŽŽŶŽĨ&ƌŝĚĂLJ͕ϮϰEŽǀĞŵďĞƌϮϬϭϳ͘ &ƵƌƚŚĞƌĚĞƚĂŝůƐŵĂLJďĞŽďƚĂŝŶĞĚĨƌŽŵƚŚĞ'ŽǀĞƌŶŵĞŶƚ'ĂnjĞƚƚĞŽĨϭϬEŽǀĞŵďĞƌ ϮϬϭϳ͘ ƉƉůŝĐĂƚŝŽŶĨŽƌŵƐŵĂLJďĞĚŽǁŶůŽĂĚĞĚĨƌŽŵ͗ ŚƚƚƉƐ͗ͬͬƉƵďůŝĐƐĞƌǀŝĐĞ͘ŐŽǀ͘ŵƚͬĞŶͬƉĞŽƉůĞͬWĂŐĞƐͬWĞŽƉůĞZĞƐŽƵƌĐŝŶŐĂŶĚŽŵƉůŝĂŶĐĞͬ &ŽƌŵƐĂŶĚdĞŵƉůĂƚĞƐ͘ĂƐƉdž Austrian far-right MEP likens Malta to drug cartel TV series 'Narcos' Is this being done because in the wash of interests and allegiances that define this House, it is easiest to overlook, from all EU member states, Malta's realities and to cast doubts on the motives of the Maltese government? - Alfred Sant