EU’s rule of law delegation back in Malta next week for follow-up mission

A delegation from the European Union will be in Malta and Slovakia next week, for a follow-up visit meant to assess the rule of law, corruption, and the safety of journalists.

The delegation - made up of chair Sophia in ’t Veld, Nationalist Party MEP Roberta Metsola, and MEPs Josef Weidenholzer, Monica Macovei and Sven Giegold - will be in Malta on 18 and 19 September.

They plan to meet Justice Minister Owen Bonnici, Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, the Chief Justice and Attorney General, police authorities and the heads of the Malta Financial Services Authority and the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit.

The group of MEPs will also be exchanging views with journalists and representatives of the Daphne Project, and will be discussing the situation on the island with NGOs concerned with the rule of law and fighting corruption.

The mission was recommended by the new working group on the rule of law and the fight against corruption, set up by the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee in May. 

Following the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, an ad hoc delegation of MEPs had travelled to Malta in December 2017 to assess the state of rule of law and the implementation of European anti-money laundering legislation. 

In June 2018, a group of three MEPs also carried out an informal follow-up visit to the one in December.

MEPs were also in Slovakia in March 2018, after the killing of journalist Ján Kuciak and his partner Martina Kušnírová.