Malta is “not in sufficient compliance” with the recommendations made by a European anti-corruption body, with only four of the 23 recommendations having been fully implemented, according to a new report published on Thursday.
The report, by the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body GRECO, examines the measures taken by the government in its fight against corruption, following a series of recommendations adopted in 2019. In May 2022, Malta was given 18 months to bring itself in line with the recommendations.
The report was adopted in December, but its publication was not authorised until Thursday.
The published report reveals that nine recommendations made by the anti-corruption expert group had not been addressed at all, while a further 10 were only “partly implemented”.
Malta has, for instance, failed to lay down any rules governing contacts between top officials and lobbyists trying to influence decision-making and has so far not beefed up its requirements for top executives to declare conflicts of interest.
The report also finds that “no concrete steps” have been taken to bolster MP’s asset declarations.
Meanwhile, nothing has been done to allow law enforcement to use special techniques such as wiretaps when investigating cases of corruption (“not even a legal analysis of what would be a possible way forward”, the report's authors say).
Malta must also do more to limit the number of persons of trust and make sure that they follow higher standards of integrity, GRECO says, adding that it cannot consider this recommendation to be satisfactorily implemented “until further measures are taken”.
GRECO describes Malta’s failure to develop an integrity strategy for top officials as “regrettable”, hoping that an ongoing project on improving Malta’s transparency framework launched at the request of the Standards Commissioner will yield results by the time the next evaluation is carried out.
GRECO say that Malta has been successful in improving the police force’s communications strategy and in developing a strategy through which public institutions with regulatory functions can be more accountable and better-resourced, particularly through a National Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy.
However, several other recommendations remain on the drawing board, with GRECO saying that “only a modest progress” has been recorded in several others, particularly those related to persons with top executive functions.
Maltese authorities have been asked to submit an update on its progress on by the end of this year.
Malta has adopted 61% of GRECO recommendations - Ministry
In a reaction, the justice ministry observed that GRECO had reported that Malta had adopted 61 recommendations made to it by the Council of Europe body.
GRECO had noted the reforms made by Malta in the area of rule of law and good governance, and progress in strengthening the offices of the Ombudsman, the Audit Office, the Standards Commissioner, and the Department of Internal Audit and Investigations, among others. Malta had also adopted a national strategy against fraud and corruption.
The report also noted reforms and strong public support for the police force.
GRECO had also called for progress on other points, which the government was committed to continue to work on to strengthen the country's institutions, the ministry said.