Representatives of the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE), sent to Malta to assess the situation of the rule of law in connection with the investigation into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia believe that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s announced departure should take effect immediately.
This is what the Dutch liberal Sophie in't Veld told a few journalists she met on Tuesday 3 December, according to Reuters. I am “not reassured”, she said, after a meeting with the outgoing Prime Minister, who announced his departure for 18 January.
The members of the LIBE Committee will still be on site on Wednesday 4 December.
For its part, the Commission indicated that the day before, the Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, had spoken to the Maltese Minister of Justice. She also insisted that the investigation must produce real results and take place “without political interference”, said Christian Wigand, spokesman for the European institution.
On Tuesday, at the end of the ‘Justice’ Council, Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said that the College of Commissioners would take stock of the situation on Wednesday. But it is “not yet a question”, at this stage, of talking about the initiation of a so-called ‘Article 7’ procedure on respect for the rule of law in Malta.
Instead, the Commission should focus on previous recommendations made to improve the judicial system and correct abuses with visa policies (see EUROPE 12041/23). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)