Friday

8th Dec 2023

MEPs grill 'laughing' Muscat on corruption claims

  • Muscat (l): "If there is a shred of truth in it, then I’ll resign" (Photo: consilium.europa.eu)

Centre-right and Green MEPs grilled Malta’s leader, Joseph Muscat, in the European Parliament on Wednesday (14 June), amid four ongoing corruption probes.

Manfred Weber, the head of the centre-right EPP group, which called for the plenary discussion on Malta, said the “substance of the debate” was “why is there still a minister in your cabinet who is the only minister in Europe whose name appears in the Panama Papers database?”.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • Langen (l): "You can sit there laughing if you like, but you won’t get off scott-free" (Photo: europarl.europa.eu)

He also attacked Muscat for having “refused” to give the EU “an open look into what’s wrong in your party”.

His criticism referred to Konrad Mizzi, Malta’s new tourism minister, who was named, along with Muscat’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri, as having set up offshore firms in the Panama Papers leak.

A Maltese blogger, Daphne Caruana Galizia, also said Muscat’s wife had a secret bank account and accused the government of taking kickbacks from a Maltese passport sale scheme run by Henley & Partners, a British firm.

The accusations are being investigated by Maltese magistrates in four ongoing probes.

But Sven Giegold, a German Green MEP, told the EU parliament on Wednesday that more investigations should be opened into alleged money-laundering by Schembri and the Maltese-based Pilatus Bank.

He said leaked reports by Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit, which he circulated to press, had “incriminated” Schembri, but that these reports had “unfortunately not led to the opening of any [judicial] processes” in Malta.

The most vicious attacks came from Malta’s opposition Nationalist Party, which sits in the EPP group.

David Casa, a Nationalist Party MEP, said Muscat risked “going down as the most corrupt leader in the history of Malta” and that he had harmed Malta’s reputation at a time when it held the EU presidency.

“You can see what our country has become”, he said.

Muscat sat through the two-hour long debate checking his mobile phone and smiling.

He then gave a fiery speech accusing some MEPs of relying on “fake news” in “blogs” and “social media” in their interventions.

He said the EU parliament debate should not have taken place before the Maltese probes had ended.

“If there is room for prosecutions, resignations will be offered. I’m amazed this fact was not taken into consideration - there are four separate matters under judicial investigation”, he said.

He said that he was willing to answer questions from the parliament’s Panama Papers committee of enquiry after those probes were concluded.

He also said it was an “outright lie” that his wife had a secret account and that “if there was a shred of truth in it, then I’ll resign”.

He added that “everyone points to this [Caruana Galizia’s] blog” in their attacks and “marvelled that some respectable members of this house have taken this fake news and reported it as fact”.

The EU commissioner in charge of financial affairs, Pierre Moscovici, took a similar line.

“There is a judicial enquiry under way in Malta and the commission does not comment on any investigation which is under way”, he said.

The centre-left S&D and Liberal groups also said the debate was premature.

Marlene Mizzi, an MEP from Muscat’s centre-left Labour Party, noted that the EPP and the Nationalist Party had originally wanted to hold the event prior to Malta’s recent elections in order to “trash” her party’s reputation.

“They should be ashamed of this … bullying,” she said.

Werner Langen, a German centre-right MEP who heads the Panama Papers committee, hit back at Muscat’s nonchalant manner.

He said that when his committee had invited Muscat to give answers, Muscat “ignored us” and showed “total disdain for the freely elected European Parliament”.

“You can sit there laughing if you like, but you won’t get off scot-free”, he said.

Whistleblower fears for life as US arrests Malta bank chair

US authorities have arrested the chair of the Maltese-registered Pilatus Bank for tax evasion. The bank facilitated political corruption in Malta but its whistleblower is now facing jail in Malta and fears for her life.

Spain's Nadia Calviño backed to be EIB's first female chief

With less than a month to go before the start of a new leadership of the European Investment Bank, the world's largest multilateral lender, the path seems finally clear for one of the candidates, Spanish finance minister Nadia Calviño.

Spain's Nadia Calviño backed to be EIB's first female chief

With less than a month to go before the start of a new leadership of the European Investment Bank, the world's largest multilateral lender, the path seems finally clear for one of the candidates, Spanish finance minister Nadia Calviño.

Analysis

Is there hope for the EU and eurozone?

While some strengths may have been overlooked recently, leading to a more pessimistic outlook on the EU and the euro area than the truly deserve, are there reasons for optimism?

Latest News

  1. How Moldova is trying to control tuberculosis
  2. Many problems to solve in Dubai — honesty about them is good
  3. Sudanese fleeing violence find no haven in Egypt or EU
  4. How should EU reform the humanitarian aid system?
  5. EU suggests visa-bans on Israeli settlers, following US example
  6. EU ministers prepare for all-night fiscal debate
  7. Spain's Nadia Calviño backed to be EIB's first female chief
  8. Is there hope for the EU and eurozone?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us