11 Things We Learnt From Muscat’s Grilling By The European Parliament
It was billed to be a grilling that couldn’t wait until the election because the public deserved to know the truth before voting. But after being postponed at Malta’s request, the format of the European Parliamentary debate did not shed much new light. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat gave a short opening speech, faced dozens of pointed questions by MEPs, and then replied just once with a 10-minute conclusion. So was there anything we learnt from the 1.5 hour plenary session? Let’s go over some highlights.
1. Muscat believes his government has a track record for fighting corruption and will continue to do so
In his short opening statement, Muscat said his government had done three major things to fight corruption in its first legislature and was planning another three major steps to be carried out in his second term. The government’s first actions were to remove time-barring for politicians when it comes to crimes of corruption, introducing the Whistleblower’s Act and enacting a party-financing law. The steps to be introduced in his second term include a transparency register which would allow public officers to declare their commercial interests, a new code of conduct for people holding public office and the removal of parliamentary immunity.
2. But some MEPs think he only fights corruption with cosmetic laws
The leader of the European People’s Party Manfred Weber – last seen in Malta campaigning for the election of Opposition leader Simon Busuttil – said Muscat should not stop at telling the parliament what he did “on paper” but should demonstrate whether there have been any tangible results from the legislation he enacted.
3. Others think he is “doing nothing” to fight corruption, has given “criminals the keys to the house” and has set up “brazen” schemes for money laundering
These statements came from all sides of the political spectrum. It was EPP MEP Werner Langen who accused Muscat of “doing nothing” and warned that he would not get off scot-free before he gets his country in order and stopped showing “total disdain” to the European Parliament. Liberal MEP Michael Theurer said it was “terrible” to have ministers involved in Panama companies when the EU was trying to legislate against such structures. “It’s basically as if you’re giving the criminal the keys to the house,” he said. Later it was Socialist MEP Ana Gomes who labelled Malta’s cash-for-passports scheme as “brazenly” encouraging of money laundering – and advertising the scheme on its Air Malta in-flight magazine to boot.
4. One MEP thinks Labour only won the election because the Nationalist Party is also corrupt
German MEP Fabio de Masi said he wasn’t surprised that the Maltese re-elected Muscat since “the Conservatives” in Malta were no real alternative and also had “skeletons in their closet”.
5. But Nationalist MEPs David Casa and Roberta Metsola are not going to stop criticising Muscat on Panama
In very passionate statements, the Maltese MEPs refused to give into the narrative that by criticising their government they were tarnishing Malta’s name. However, Casa did appeal to Muscat to use his electoral victory to clean up Malta’s reputation and Metsola appealed to other MEPs not to punish Maltese workers by taking advantage of the Panama scandal to question Malta’s sound financial services sector.
6. Some even questioned the point of this debate in the first place
Some MEPs said it was not the European Parliament’s job to scrutinise a member state’s Prime Minister especially when there is already the Pana Committee investigating. Some even questioned whether this was just a partisan response to the Socialist’s criticism of Hungary’s leader. Maltese MEP Marlene Mizzi even accused the MEPs of “bullying tactics” and her colleague Miriam Dalli said the debate was conceived entirely for partisan reasons.
7. But the British MEPs relished the opportunity to use it to promote Brexit
The only British MEPs to participate in the debate were quick to use it as a prime example for why the UK should leave the EU. One complained about the interference the European Parliament was having on a sovereign nation. The other said this was just one of many scandals of corruption within the EU, including the waste of EU taxpayer money such as through the €1.9 million cocktail bar that was recently built. “Thank goodness we in Britain can leave and don’t have to deal with costs and waste any more,” he said.
8. Alfred Sant has gone full circle on whether Konrad Mizzi should be retained
Former Prime Minister Alfred Sant said there was no basis to question the rule of law in Malta especially since there were four independent magisterial inquiries underway. Making a statement against Malta would de-value future statements by the EP on rule of law violations. When he was asked by another MEP whether he still believed Konrad Mizzi should have resigned and whether he feels comfortable with his reappointment as minister, Sant said the Prime Minister respected the verdict of the people.
9. Meanwhile, Malta’s refusal of having a European prosecutor is not going down well
German MEP Michael Theurer accused Malta of becoming an accomplice to corruption by not accepting to have a European Public Prosecutor’s Office. Sixteen member states have come together to launch an EPPO which would be in charge of investigating, prosecuting and bringing to justice the perpetrators of offences against the EU’s financial interest. But Malta opted out, sparking questions on why. This was not responded to by Muscat.
10. Muscat still loves to be cheeky
At one point Muscat sarcastically thanked Manfred Weber for his “contribution” to the election campaign, implying that the speech he gave at a PN mass meeting helped Labour win the election. In his closing remarks Muscat also made it a point to take a dig at German MEP Werner Langen by raising the spectre of the Volkswagen emissions scandal by saying: “I am not a Volkswagen that says one thing and does the other.” He also told Langen that he should get his “basic facts right or fire the people doing his press reviews” given that he claimed Muscat was not ready to face the Pana Committee when he had publicly accepted to do so after the Magistrate investigating Egrant is concluded.
11. And nobody knows how to pronounce Schembri
We heard “shembri”, “skemberry” and “sheemri”. For next time, maybe we should spell it out to our European friends: “Sh-Kem-Bri”.
BONUS: Joseph Muscat doesn’t mind speaking English at the European Parliament anymore
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