Following harassment and threats, Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered in a car bomb explosion on 16 October 2017. The outcry over the authorities’ handling of her murder investigation ultimately prompted the resignation of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. Critical of failings in the investigation, in December 2019, MEPs called on the European Commission to take action. Parliament takes stock of the state of the rule of law in Malta and speaks up for the safety and independence of journalists. Opening statements by Pascual NAVARRO RÍOS, Spanish Secretary of State for the European Union, Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, and in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age (ad interim). The transcription is the result of an automatic process. Please, check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

plenary session

JOUROVÁ, Věra (EC)

EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights (T)

EU - Malta (T)

NAVARRO RÍOS, Pascual Ignacio

Rule of Law in Malta, 6 years after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the need to protect journalists: Opening statements by Pascual NAVARRO RÍOS, Spanish Secretary of State for the EU, Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the EC

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Pascual NAVARRO R&Iacute;OS, Spanish Secretary of State for the European Union President. Ladies and gentlemen. Commissioner. On Monday, the 16th of October, we saw the sixth anniversary of the brutal murder of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta. She was a crucial voice in many of the debates that took place in her country of origin. Her mission was to be alert and provide information on events, particularly abuse of power and corruption. She really needed a lot of courage to do that, and that's why she was brutally murdered.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Pascual NAVARRO RÍOS, Spanish Secretary of State for the European Union On this occasion, I would like to offer my condolences to her family, friends and colleagues. But I'd also like to highlight a few principles that are important for the Council and for our Presidency. Firstly, protection of investigators, that of journalists and whistleblowers. That's crucial for our society. Our journalists are those who are vigilant and protect our way of life. They shouldn't be acting under any kind of financial or political pressure.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Pascual NAVARRO RÍOS, Spanish Secretary of State for the European Union 'And this is the principle that guides the Council's work on key legislative proposals which aim to increase the protection of journalists. The so-called SLAPP strategic lawsuits against public protest participation and the law on the media, which was referred to yesterday. SLAPPs are a major threat for European democracy and the rule of law prior to being murdered. Daphne Caruana Galizia had been the object of over 40 abusive lawsuits.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Pascual NAVARRO RÍOS, Spanish Secretary of State for the European Union The Spanish presidency of the Council commits itself to achieving a political agreement on this directive before the end of the year. In addition, subsequent to the recent adoption of a mandate here in Parliament on the law on the freedom of the media, so the Media Freedom Act, the Presidency looks forward to continuing our work on protecting journalists and ensuring media freedom.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Pascual NAVARRO RÍOS, Spanish Secretary of State for the European Union We need to ensure we have a diverse media landscape in the European Union, and I think trialogues actually begin tomorrow on Thursday. So as well as our work on these key legislative proposals, the Council is also working to promote a common culture of the rule of law in Member States. We are currently carrying out an assessment of the Council's dialog on the rule of law with a goal to achieving an agreement on Council conclusions before the end of the year.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Pascual NAVARRO RÍOS, Spanish Secretary of State for the European Union Freedom and pluralism in the media is a pillar of the annual report on the Rule of Law from the Commission. And given that we were discussing that and in next week's General Council will continue to look at various member states with regards to this. We, in addition, are committed to developing more effective tools at the national level and also the union and international level.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Pascual NAVARRO RÍOS, Spanish Secretary of State for the European Union And we're urging member States to continue to improve the national frameworks and strategies against corruption, because corruption is important, too. Attacks on representatives of the media and journalists to silence them and are unacceptable in the European Union. And we need to ensure that these deplorable events never happen again. That's something that we owe to Mrs. Caruana Galizia and also to our journalists, citizens and democracies. Thank you.

'SOUNDBITE (English), Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, and in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age (ad interim), President, honorable members, thank you for including on the plenary agenda a debate on the rule of law situation in Malta, ix years after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, and the need to protect journalists. Once again, the Commission condemns the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Her murder was an attack on the free media and a wake up call for the need to have stronger measures in place to protect journalists.

'SOUNDBITE (English), Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, and in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age (ad interim), It is not the Commission's role to comment on the substance of ongoing national investigations. Early on, we have said, very clearly, that we expected a thorough and independent investigation and investigation took place indeed, and a trial is ongoing.

'SOUNDBITE (English), Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, and in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age (ad interim), Regarding the situation in Malta, I would like to say that we appreciate the cooperation of the Maltese authorities with the Commission on the reforms to be carried out. Efficiency of justice is essential to upholding the rule of law. Excessively long proceedings undermine the trust citizens place in national justice systems. In fact, in 2023 Rule of Law Report, the Commission included a recommendation for Malta to further strengthen efforts to improve the efficiency of justice, particularly to reduce the length of proceedings.

'SOUNDBITE (English), Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, and in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age (ad interim), It is essential that Member States and EU institutions contribute within their respective roles to upholding the rule of law and protecting journalists in the EU. Last year, only 813 media freedom violations were recorded in the EU and candidate countries. The Commission's annual Rule of Law report has documented many of these threats and challenges to media pluralism in the European Union.

'SOUNDBITE (English), Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, and in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age (ad interim), And in response to these the Commission has taken a number of initiatives in the last two years to protect media freedom, namely a recommendation on the safety of journalists and recommendation. And mainly the legislative proposal to fight strategic lawsuits against public participation.

'SOUNDBITE (English), Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, and in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age (ad interim), 'Torough implementation of the recommendations by Member States and rapid adoption by co-legislators of the legislative proposals are key steps needed to ensure that we have the right safeguards on the ground. Besides these two initiatives, one year ago, the Commission adopted the European Media Freedom Act, a key proposal which complements our existing legislation in the field of media.

'SOUNDBITE (English), Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, and in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age (ad interim), 'The proposal, which we hope to agree with you as co-legislator soon, aims to protect the editorial independence of the media. It also seeks to guarantee that journalists and editors can work without interference, including when it comes to protecting their sources and communications against surveillance. I was so happy to hear the Minister about the commitment of the Council because we are now starting the trialogues and I do hope we will finish it by the end of the Spanish presidency.

'SOUNDBITE (English), Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, and in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age (ad interim), More generally, on the rule of law, the Commission published in July, its fourth annual report, and this report assesses for the first time the implementation of the recommendations made in 2022. So let me come back to Malta and give you some additional information on the situation in the country. I will start with the justice system.

'SOUNDBITE (English), Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, and in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age (ad interim), The level of perceived judicial independence in Malta remains high. Some positive developments have taken place, such as the adoption of the Strategic and Operational Plan for the Prosecution Service and the establishment of a steering committee to enhance the digitalization of justice. However, no steps have been taken to involve the judiciary in the procedure for appointment of the Chief Justice.

'SOUNDBITE (English), Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, and in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age (ad interim), The Commission has reiterated its recommendation in this sense, taking into account European standards on judicial appointments and also the opinion of the Venice Commission. Moreover, I have already signaled the Commission encourages Malta to continue efforts, including the appointment of new members of the judiciary, to improve the efficiency of justice that has further deteriorated.

'SOUNDBITE (English), Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, and in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age (ad interim), 'With regards to anti-corruption, the recommendations of the Board of Inquiry that were issued following the public inquiry into the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia remain to be implemented. The Commission continues to monitor the implementation of those relevant recommendations included in the Public inquiry report and will continue to do so until all the suggested actions are satisfactorily addressed. In 2023 a prosecution was launched by the attorney office in relation to some cases, but challenges related to high level corruption cases remain, including the lack of a robust track record of final judgments and on the length of investigations.

'SOUNDBITE (English), Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, and in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age (ad interim), Allow me also to say a few words on Malta's investor citizenship scheme. Malta is the only member state that continues to have such a scheme actively in place. The Commission maintains that the systematic granting by a member state of its nationality and thereby of EU citizenship in exchange for a predetermined payment or investment and without a genuine link with the member state concerns, violates EU law as it is not compatible with the concept of EU citizenship and the principle of sincere cooperation.

'SOUNDBITE (English), Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, and in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age (ad interim), Malta has, since March 2022, suspended its scheme for Russian and Belarussian nationals. It continues to operate the scheme for nationals of other countries, as our concern remain. The Commission referred Malta to the Court of Justice of the European Union in March this year. Also, the Commission has issued recommendations to Malta on media freedom.

'SOUNDBITE (English), Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, and in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age (ad interim), The media reform process launched following the publication of the report of the Daphne Caruana Galizia Public Inquiry is still ongoing, and we recommend that the legislative and other safeguards to be adopted to improve the working environment of journalists. Furthermore, the rules and mechanisms to enhance the independent governance and editorial independence of public service media should be strengthened, taking into account European standards on public service media.

'SOUNDBITE (English), Věra JOUROVÁ, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency, and in charge of Europe fit for the Digital Age (ad interim), The report also referred, reflects the ongoing efforts of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organizations to enhance the civil society space. Finally, the lack of formalized process for public participation in the legislative process continues to raise concerns, and that is why the Commission has recommended to Malta to introduce such a framework. I want to thank you for your attention and I am now looking forward to listening to your interventions. Thank you very much.