On Monday 17 October, five years after the death of Daphne Caruana Galizia, MEPs denounced persistent flaws in the rule of law in Malta. A motion for a resolution, prepared by all political groups except ID, will be put to the vote during the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday 20 October.
Present at the debate, EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders welcomed the progress made by the Maltese government since 2020, while stressing “the importance of completing all the necessary reforms in the areas of judicial independence and efficiency, the fight against corruption and media freedom, and of implementing them in practice” (see EUROPE 12992/1).
Too much impunity
Despite the conviction of the perpetrators of the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, the masterminds remain unpunished, the Chamber denounced. “Bringing all accomplices to her death to justice is the absolute minimum and remains a top priority”, said Thijs Reuten (S&D, Dutch).
MEPs also called for the facts denounced by the journalist to be brought to justice. “Daphne died because she exposed wrongdoing, corruption and crime […] yet hardly any of those cases have been adequately investigated, let alone brought to trial”, lamented Sophie in ‘t Veld (Renew Europe, Dutch).
Moreover, as the public enquiry into the assassination had pointed to a “climate of impunity generated at the highest level” of the Maltese state, the latter “must fully implement the recommendations of the public enquiry [and] assume its responsibility for the assassination”, stressed Manfred Weber (EPP, German).
Freedom of the press
While the Commission has proposed a ‘Media Freedom Act’ (see EUROPE 13023/1) as well as legislation on SLAPPs (see EUROPE 13037/21), Didier Reynders also called on Malta to “strengthen the rules to enhance the independence of public service media” and introduce “legislative and other safeguards” to facilitate the work of the press.
MEPs stressed that the protection of journalists must be a priority for the EU and all Member States. “Media freedom is not good in the European Union”, said Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield (Greens/EFA).
Political clashes in the Chamber
Finally, Alessandro Panza (ID, Italian) denounced a “double standard”, saying that “Poland and Hungary have been put in the dock [...] for their right-wing governments”, while we “look the other way, even at the cost of justice” when it comes to left-wing governments. “Perhaps it is time to launch Article 7 against Malta,” concluded Patryk Jaki (ECR, Polish). “We are not soft on socialist governments”, defended Konstantinos Arvanities (GUE/NGL, Greek). “Any murder of a journalist is a blow to democracy.”
Read the motion for a resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/3no (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)