Sven Giegold

Malta: European Parliament seriously concerned about the rule of law

Today, the political groups in the European Parliament have tabled their draft motions for resolution on the rule of law in Malta. One motion has been negotiated between a rare coalition of Christian democrats (EPP), liberals (ALDE), Greens, ECR and GUE (left). An alternative motion is sponsored by the socialist & democrat (S&D) group which includes the governing Labour party of Malta. The resolutions will be discussed next Tuesday afternoon during a plenary debate in Strasbourg and voted on Wednesday. Later this year, a delegation of the European Parliament will travel to Malta to investigate the rule of law and money laundering.

 

MEP Sven Giegold, financial and economic policy spokesperson of the Greens/EFA group commented:

“The European Parliament expresses serious concerns over the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights in Malta. After the murder of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, our parliament must no longer keep silent. The European Commission has to take action to ensure that EU law and fundamental values are fully respected in Malta.The common resolution is a slap in the face of the Maltese government. It is embarrassing that the socialists and democrats in the European parliament were unwilling to contribute to a common resolution. As with the concerns regarding the rule of law in Hungary and Romania, the affiliation to a European party family overrules the defence of European values.

We Greens have contributed greatly to the common resolution. Nevertheless, we deplore that any reference to tax avoidance by Malta or to the strong link between local media and political parties did not find a majority between the political groups.”

The draft resolution of EPP, Greens, ALDE, ECR and GUE:

http://bit.ly/2yoJy2u

 

The draft resolution of S&D:

http://bit.ly/2i1YlcZ

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