The European Parliament’s approach towards Malta’s rule of law issues and money laundering allegations

Abstract

Since the emergence of the Panama Papers scandal and the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia who played an important role in leaking the Panama Papers, Malta has been under high scrutiny for the state of rule of law and the money laundering activities that have been ongoing in the country. Malta is being monitored closely by multiple international organisations such as the European Union, Council of Europe and the Financial Action Task Force. The European Union have been in constant communication with Malta to make sure that Malta abides by the EU’s regulations and standards. This has not been the first time that the EU has encountered such issues from a Member State. For this reason the EU has introduced a wide variety of legislations, mechanisms and action plans that aim at firstly monitoring states and implementing early warning systems in order to avoid Member States reaching a point where there is a serious threat. Secondly, they aim at using EU resources to help these Member States overcome these threats. The European Parliament views itself as the institution that is responsible for protecting and preserving democracy within the EU. For this reason out of all the EU institutions they have been particularly vocal on the issues that Malta is facing. The European Parliament as an institution has been rather coy on the matter. It has not condemned Malta and following a visit to Malta the PANA Committee has deemed that there is no serious threat to rule of law in Malta. However, the same cannot be said for the Members of European Parliament. These have been very vocal in criticising the Maltese government and it’s handling of the issues. They have placed blame on the Maltese executive and called on former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to take responsibility and resign. The reaction coming from the European Parliament was not welcomed warmly by the Labour Party of Malta which is the governing party. They have criticised the European Parliament for having double standards and for not conducting appropriate research from verified resources. The Labour Party has also blamed the Nationalist Party for lobbying other Members of European Parliament to criticise the government. This has in return caused the labour party to dismiss what is being said by the European Parliament. On the other hand the Nationalist Party which is the party in opposition in Malta has expressed that it feels that the EU should be putting more pressure on the Maltese Government as without this pressure Malta would not be addressing the issues at hand with such haste. The opposition has also gone on to criticise the successors of the Joseph Muscat Cabinet. They believe that they still are hindering justice in order to protect the people involved. Therefore until this government is changed or justice is served to all involved, they will not be satisfied by the progress made.