Rule of law: Civil Liberties MEPs to report on corruption and press freedom

The European Parliament is concerned about the lack of progress in both murder investigations, repeated claims of harassment and intimidation of journalists and persistent allegations of corruption and fraud

MEPs meeting Prime Minister Joseph Muscat at Castle
MEPs meeting Prime Minister Joseph Muscat at Castle

MEPs of the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee will monitor and report in the coming months on the situation of rule of law in the EU, with a specific focus on corruption and freedom of the press.

The Committee has set up a Rule of Law monitoring group (ROLMG), chaired by Sophia in ‘t Veld (ALDE, NL), which will build on the two ad hoc EP visits to Malta (December 2017) and Slovakia (March 2018) following the murders of the Maltese blogger and journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, and the Slovakian journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová.

MEPs will also follow up of the conclusions and recommendations adopted by plenary in its resolutions on Malta (15 November 2017) and Slovakia (19 April 2018).

The European Parliament is concerned about the lack of progress in both murder investigations, repeated claims of harassment and intimidation of journalists and persistent allegations of corruption and fraud. The aim of the new monitoring group is to give full support to all efforts to seek justice and make sure the rule of law prevails.

The group’s mandate, until 31 December, foresees the possibility of hearings, meetings, fact finding missions, reporting back to the European Parliament and the adoption of a final resolution.

The group will be chaired by Sophia in ‘t Veld (ALDE, NL). Other members will be Roberta Metsola (EPP, MT), Josef Weidenholzer (S&D, AT), Judith Sargentini (Greens, NL) and Laura Ferrara (EFDD, IT). The representatives of ECR and GUE have not been appointed yet.