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maltatoday SUNDAY 14 JANUARY 2018 6 News Do this, do that… but will Malta take heed? After a fact-finding mission to Malta, MEPs made recommendations for reforms on a national level to improve the rule of law. Kurt Sansone traverses the salient recommendations and analyses their implications MEPS from the European Parlia- ment's Committee on Civil Lib- erties, Justice and Home Affairs came to Malta on a fact-finding mission last November. The 36-page report of their visit was released last Thursday, giving a breakdown of the exchanges the MEPs had with various individuals summoned to appear before them. The report makes some recom- mendations at a European level and includes a call for investiga- tions by the European Banking Authority and the European Cen- tral Bank into the circumstances under which Pilatus Bank contin- ues to hold a licence to provide services in the EU. But the report also listed recom- mendations for change at a na- tional level, starting with a call for the removal from public office of people linked to Panama Papers. Below are some of the more sali- ent recommendations. Remove from office Report: "Persons perceived to be implicated in serious acts of cor- ruption and money laundering, as a result of Panama Papers rev- elations and FIAU reports, should not be kept in public office and must be swiftly and formally in- vestigated and brought to justice. Keeping them in office affects the credibility of the government, fu- els the perception of impunity and may result in further damage to State interests by enabling the continuation of criminal activity." What it means: Although Tour- ism Minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister's chief of staff Keith Schembri are not named, the reference is clearly to them. The use of the word "swiftly" emphasises the position MEPs have expressed incessantly since the Panama Papers revelations in 2016, calling on Prime Min- ister Joseph Muscat to give the two men the boot. The argument that keeping them in office fuels the perception of impunity was the rallying call of the Nationalist Party in the last election. Where to go: Muscat has played the nationalistic card by implying that any decisions he may take will not be dictated by Brussels. He knows that Maltese do not take lightly to 'foreign interference' and MEPs telling the government what to do will not go down well with a domestic audience. Opposition leader Adrian Delia has seemingly understood this as well by giving a measured reaction and asking the Prime Minister not to persist in "harming Malta's reputation" by not acting. The likely outcome will see Mizzi and Schembri en- trenched in their public office roles for the foreseeable future, unless any of the open magiste- rial inquiries lift the lid on some wrongdoing. Separation of powers Report: "Work is needed to en- sure stronger checks and balances in the Maltese legislative frame- work to better separate powers and to limit possible interference of the Prime Minister in the judici- ary and the media; an assessment of media pluralism and independ- ence from political power should be conducted." What it means: MEPs are calling for legal and constitutional chang- es that ensure a better balance of powers. The reference to the me- dia's independence from political power may be a reference to the ownership of television and radio stations by the political parties but it could also be an outsider's view of the highly polarised media en- vironment. Where to go: MEPs have said what many in Malta have been calling for, long before the good governance spiel became the Op- position's rallying cry after 2013. Constitutional reform to ensure separation of powers and stronger checks and balances have been on and off the agenda of every government for the past three decades. Unfortunately, efforts to reform the Constitution have always been scuppered because of petty partisan feuds. The ref- erence to the Prime Minister's interference in the judiciary does appear spurious since the appoint- ment of judges and magistrates has been reformed over the past two years with the creation of a Career Opportunity www.iden�tymalta.com Objec�ve of the role: The role of Senior Manager – Due Diligence lines directly into the Chief Officer – Due Diligence (CO-DD) and forms part of the IIP unit's Due Diligence team at Iden�ty Malta. 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Applicants may also send applica�on by email addressed to recruitment@iden�tymalta.com Iden ty Malta is a government Agency established through Legal No ce LN269 of 2013. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER AUBERGE DE CASTILLE, TRIQ SAN PAWL, VALLETTA, MALTA KURT SANSONE Keith Schembri/Konrad Mizzi /Passports Steward discuss outcome with Barts Pilots agreed to longer hours in 2016 CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 This rep- resents an increase of almost €16 million on the amount govern- ment is expected to fork out by the end of this year for the Gozo hospi- tal concession. The concession agreement for the Karen Grech rehabilitation centre is expected to cost taxpay- ers €12 million next year, an in- crease of €8 million on what gov- ernment will fork out in 2017. Vitals Global Healthcare was granted a 30-year concession agreement to operate the Gozo, St Luke's and Karen Grech hospi- tals in a public-private partnership. The company was expected to in- vest millions to rebuild the Gozo hospital and refurbish St Luke's and Karin Grech for use as private hospitals. The decision to sell the conces- sion has raised serious questions about the sale, namely because the owners of Vitals remain shrouded in secrecy due to the nature of the financial structure of the company. The concession agreement will see the government buying beds and services from Vitals. However, the budget estimates also include a separate provision of €11.5 million for Karin Grech reha- bilitation centre, which is listed un- der "contributions to government entities". This amount represents an in- crease of half-a-million euros over this year's expense and it is unclear whether this money will also go to Vitals. MaltaToday can also con- firm that talks held in London be- tween Steward and Barts have been positive and the partnership that existed between Vitals and Barts will continue. The new management is expected to bring in its new team and it is not known whether the Maltese staff will be kept on board. They include former PN MP, Albert Fenech, who resigned his post in parliament to head the cardiology department un- der Vitals. Neither is it known whether Vitals will retain the services of Lou Bondi, a former PN official and TV person- ality and now also a government consultant. He was engaged as a PR consultant for Vitals in 2016 for a handsome retainer. CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 They said that while the government still hoped an agreement could be reached, it was ensuring that it re- tained some options, with the rea- soning being that if an agreement is not reached, it could shift opera- tions to its second airline, which would be in possession of Air Mal- ta's slots. "At worst, half the airline's pilots would agree to the terms being of- fered and join the new airline," they said, adding that the airline would then need to rely on wet leases - hiring an aircraft with flight crew - until it recruits enough pilots for its operations. Back in 2016, an agreement was reached between ALPA and Air Malta in which the pilots agreed to fly longer hours, in accordance with European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regulations, with the intention to increase pilots' fly- ing hours. The agreement also saw the com- pany commit to guaranteeing pi- lots' their best pay from either of 2014, 2015 or 2016, as well as the launch of a voluntary early retire- ment scheme. "At the time, the strategy was to reduce the airline's operations, so they were concerned that they would be paid less since they'd be operating fewer flights," explained the sources, adding however, that since then, the strategy for Air Malta had changed drastically. "With the increase in flights that are planned, guaranteeing pilots' take home pay is no longer an issue since they will be flying more. The problem now is the pilots feel they are being pushed too far." Tourism minister Konrad Mizzi has insisted that the airline needed more flexibility from its pilots if it is to remain afloat, with EASA flight time limitations being included in the new collective agreement. AL- PA is the only union that has stuck to its guns as Air Malta signed its last collective agreement with its remaining employees last week. Albert Fenech, Lou Bondi (r): It is not known whether Stewards will retain all the Maltese team Konrad Mizzi