Rule of law debate: MEPs recognise progress, but insist on more effort by Maltese authorities

Maltese MEPs engaged in a heated exchange over Malta's rule of law progress during Tuesday's European Parliament debate marking the eighth anniversary of Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassination.

"Thanks for honouring Daphne Caruana Galizia's memory for eight full years," said David Casa, addressing fellow MEPs at the start of his speech.

The first Maltese MEP to speak during the debate, Casa acknowledged progress had been made since the journalist's murder, noting that low-level criminals involved in the assassination had been convicted, the judicial appointment process had been reformed, and European laws protecting journalists had been introduced.

However, he argued that significant work remained to be done.

"Daphne's family is still waiting for the outcome of the case against the alleged mastermind," Casa told the EP. "There are public inquiry recommendations, stemming from an inquiry this parliament requested multiple times, that have still not been implemented."

The Nationalist MEP said the first recommendation was that everything needed to overcome the climate of impunity had still not changed.

"Justice for Daphne means justice for the criminality she was killed to stop exposing," Casa said. "But eight years after the assassination, there is still not a single conviction for all that corruption."

Casa also criticised the “lack of lessons learned” about journalism’s importance in democracy, referencing the removal of Daphne's memorial flowers by Neville Gafa, who is a person of trust within the Prime Minister’s Office, on her anniversary.

“An embarrassing thing that was condemned by European embassies but not by the Prime Minister,” he said.

Labour’s head of delegation Alex Agius Saliba Saliba strongly defended Malta's progress and questioned what he called "another attack on our Malta." He pointed out that five people accused in Daphne's murder had gone through the courts, with only one trial remaining pending.

"What is the European Parliament proposing?" Agius Saliba asked. "Should Prime Minister Robert Abela go to our courts and tell them to speed up the process? You would be the first to point fingers at us and tell us we are interfering with the courts' work."

Agius Saliba defended the government's reforms, saying the rule of law had not gone backwards when Malta passed media laws to strengthen recommendations, appointed the largest number of judges in the country's history, removed politicians' power to appoint the judiciary by giving it to an independent commission, and created the State Advocate position.

The Labour MEP then turned his criticism towards the Nationalist Party, saying that after resisting for years the introduction of party financing laws, the PN had been breaking this law for five full years by not publishing their audited finances as required by Maltese law.

During the debate, Labour MEP Daniel Attard defended Malta's progress in justice and media freedom, saying it was "shameful" for certain people to use a journalist's murder to serve their political agenda, while acknowledging the killing remained condemnable.

"You don’t need to be a law professor and political expert to recognise that Malta has made progress in justice and also in freedom of speech and media protection," he said.

Attard criticised colleagues "working against their country in the European Parliament," adding that "by damaging Malta's name, you will not gain any respect."

Nationalist MEP Peter Agius defended the debate against critics who called it a betrayal of Malta. "In Malta, there are those who don't want us to speak about Daphne today here in the European Parliament," he said.

"There are those saying this debate is a betrayal of the Maltese. They also said that Alex Borg, the Opposition leader, came to Brussels to plan this betrayal."

Agius accused government supporters of defending corruption rather than Malta itself. "They pretend to defend Malta but in fact are only defending the corruption and abuse of power of certain Maltese," he said. He criticised the government for having to defend a prime minister whose employee removed candles from Daphne's memorial, adding "Daphne bothers them too much, because her truth still cries out."

The PN MEP said Daphne's truth continued to "prick the dormant conscience of those who completely ignore the inquiry and her requests," questioning why Malta still lacks unexplained wealth legislation.

Agius reaffirmed that they will not stop until we see full justice for Daphne and above all for the Maltese, because we truly love Malta like Daphne did.

Thomas Bajada called for unity beyond partisan politics, noting that threats to journalism extended far beyond Malta.

"A year later, this Parliament has seen this terrible murder, at the same time, among others, there was an attack with a car bomb on Sigfrido Ranucci in Rome, and the multiple deaths of journalists in Gaza continues to show that journalism, that is the search for truth, is under threat everywhere," he said.

"I believe everyone wants justice, just as we worked as Maltese, now the time has come for us as Europeans to work for justice for every journalist," Bajada continued. "If we really want to give justice to Daphne, we need to give justice to all journalists, and not with the rule of law only when it suits us. Let's go beyond partisan politics, beyond PPE against socialist governments, whether nationalist or labour."

Bajada appealed for broader cooperation, "Let's give hope to people and not employment from confrontation. Let's protect all journalists in the search for truth, let's always be together and not just when it suits us, so that we truly achieve European justice."

MEPs recognise progress, insist additional efforts needed

European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen also participated in the debate, recognising that Malta has “taken steps to address certain issues” but emphasising that “additional efforts are needed.”

She indicated that the Commission’s 2025 Rule of Law Report identified several key areas where progress remains inadequate.

The report notes that even with changes to how judges are appointed, there is still no steady record of final decisions in major corruption cases. It also says the Permanent Commission Against Corruption needs to be more effective, and that more needs to be done to follow anti-corruption recommendations from the Caruana Galizia inquiry, such as setting rules for lobbying, codes of conduct, and integrity standards for top politicians.

On transparency, she said that only a few steps have been taken to make official documents easier to access. She also noted that plans to set up national human rights institutions and create ways for the public to take part in lawmaking are still not in place.

Other members of the European Parliament also spoke during the debate.

MP Raquel García Hermida-van der Walle reaffirmed what other MEPs had said, that the debate was not acting against the Maltese people but protecting them as they would do for other countries, because “Malta is a European state.”

MP Daniel Freund also referenced the removal of flowers from Daphne's memorial in front of the courts.

The debate focused on media freedom, anti-corruption enforcement, and accountability in Malta. Political groups in the European Parliament agreed to discuss ongoing concerns about rule of law issues.

In response, the government has scheduled a parliamentary debate for Wednesday to address the Opposition's "attacks on Malta's reputation." Motion 421, titled 'Motion to condemn the behaviour of the Opposition', was tabled by government whip Naomi Cachia on Friday.

The PN has meanwhile criticised the government motion, claiming it aims to obstruct Opposition Leader Alex Borg's attendance at an EPP summit in Brussels on Thursday.