Is Malta on track to be the EU’s next Hungary or Poland? It depends who you ask.
In the European Parliament, the conservative European People’s Party (EPP), Renew Europe and the Greens say the investigation into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has revealed clear evidence that the center-left Maltese government has a corruption problem. They argue Prime Minister Joseph Muscat must step down now, rather than waiting until January.
They also want the European Commission to take Malta to task for backsliding on the rule of law, including, if necessary, by using Article 7 — the EU’s so-called nuclear option when a country is considered at risk of breaching the bloc’s core values.
For the Socialists & Democrats, of which Muscat’s Labour Party is a member, things are more complicated.
There is deep unease in the group about the situation in Malta, where the investigation into Caruana Galizia’s murder revealed close connections between suspects in the case and the prime minister’s top team.
Article 7 could lead to the most serious political sanction the bloc can impose on a member country: the suspension of the right to vote on EU decisions.
But many S&D MEPs have been wary of making strong statements and have not openly condemned Muscat, a regular attendee at the pre-European Council summit meetings organised by the Party of European Socialists.
They argue there is as yet no evidence for the EU to determine — as required to launch an Article 7 procedure — that there are “systemic threats to the rule of law” in Malta, unlike in Poland or Hungary, which have had the disciplinary process started against them.
“We take the case of Malta very seriously,” said Sylvie Guillaume, a senior French MEP from the S&D group and a member of the Parliament’s Justice and Civil Liberties committee. “But I don’t really see right now whether we are in a political system that is dominated by the Mafia or if we are in something else.”
“Everybody would have a lot to lose if we trigger Article 7 without it being adapted to the [circumstances of the] country,” Guillaume added.
Policemen stand in front of the parliament of Malta in Valletta on December 2 2019. An European Parliament delegation is to visit amid probe over journalist’s murder.
The S&D is set to discuss the issue in group meetings next week.
Caruana Galizia, a prominent journalist and blogger, investigated corruption in the highest echelons of Maltese government and society. She was killed in October 2017 after a car bomb detonated outside her home.
The investigation into her death has picked up pace in the past weeks, with a prominent local businessman arrested and charged with complicity in the murder, and Muscat’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri, and government minister Konrad Mizzi stepping down. With pressure on Muscat to quit, he announced he would resign as head of the Labour Party on January 12 so the party can choose a new leader and prime minister, which will take about a month.
The scandal has not only discredited Muscat’s Labour Party (which still supports him), but by extension the S&D, which is home to four Maltese MEPs, including Miriam Dalli, whose name was circulated as a possible replacement for Muscat.
The day Muscat announced his resignation, Dalli wrote on her Facebook page: “It is difficult to see seven years of excellent work for the good of our country end this way.”
She has since said she won’t stand to be the next party leader and prime minister. The frontrunner to get the job is now deputy PM, and health minister, Chris Fearne.
Cautious approach
When the Parliament agreed to send a group of MEPs to Malta earlier this week to assess the situation, some socialists complained the visit was organized too quickly.
In an email seen by POLITICO, German S&D MEP Birgit Sippel asked for an “in-depth” debate “in order to have time to prepare a solid programme” and “avoid any interference with the ongoing investigations.”
The country’s socialists argue the situation in Malta is not at the Article 7 stage yet. In private, they admit Muscat should step down immediately but say any corruption has not contaminated the country’s institutions.
“What the socialists are trying to do is what the EPP is trying to do with Fidesz: deflect attention from the issues, delay, postpone,” said one member of the EPP, referring to the EPP’s decision to suspend rather than eject Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party from their group earlier this year. “It’s painful, we arrive at the point when there’s no way back.”
Sippel, who went on the trip to Malta, sent out a statement a day after she came back in which she did not publicly condemn Muscat but described the situation as “very delicate,” and said there was a need for “independent and non-politicized information.” She added that the police and judicial authorities must “finish their job so that the whole truth comes out.”
The EPP and other groups want more to be done — which includes examining if Article 7 needs to be launched against Malta, despite concerns the procedure is flawed.
The new Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has put the rule of law high on her agenda and proposed to potentially replace Article 7 with a mechanism that has “an EU-wide scope” and “objective annual reporting by the Commission.”
Article 7 could lead to the most serious political sanction the bloc can impose on a member country: the suspension of the right to vote on EU decisions.
It was triggered for the first time by the Commission in 2017 against Poland, over concerns about government influence on the judiciary. One year later, Parliament voted to take the same step against Orbán’s government over concerns including over freedom of expression, academic freedom and the rights of minorities and refugees.
“The investigation is advancing. There is no need to feed mistrust in the institutions, as long as they are working,” — a Parliament official
“If von der Leyen does not initiate rule of law proceedings in this situation, when will she?” said Sven Giegold, a German MEP who also participated in the MEP mission to Malta. “Preparations must now be made for Article 7 proceedings against Malta.”
But the socialists argue the situation in Malta is not at that stage yet. In private, they admit Muscat should step down immediately but say any corruption has not contaminated the country’s institutions.
“The investigation is advancing. There is no need to feed mistrust in the institutions, as long as they are working,” one Parliament official said. “The truth must come out, but if you politicize it too much, you undermine the police investigation.”
“We are not in a context of systemic threat, where like Poland and Hungary, laws have been changed, and freedoms undermined,” the official added.