The European Parliament cannot allow the politicisation of investigations into allegations of breaches in fundamental values in EU member states, former Prime Minister and Maltese MEP Alfred Sant told the European Parliament, saying he had seen this happening in Malta.

Intervening during the debate on the "Need for a comprehensive Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights mechanism”, Dr Sant insisted on the urgency to construct a mechanism that could be accepted by all as objective, fair, transparent and deliberate in correcting any such breaches.

“The risk has increased that allegations of breaches of our fundamental values get instrumentalised from within polities for partisan reasons. They are then promoted at European levels to foment criticism directed at the government of the day. I have seen this happening for my country Malta. And in this House. I cannot rule out that it might be happening for other member states,” he said.

The Maltese MEP said that assessing whether democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights were being breached systemically depended on analysis of the available facts, duly proven, and taking into account subjective views adopted for political and other reasons.

“Mutual trust among member states and their legal systems underpins what the EU stands for. Yet the ideological consensus that used to prevail among member states seems to be breaking down,” he warned.