No ethics breach in Buttigieg’s PA role, but revolving door reforms ‘urgent’

Updated 4.25pm with ADPD statement

Johann Buttigieg’s appointment as Planning Authority CEO did not breach ethics rules, but it showed the urgent need for stricter regulations on revolving doors, the Standards Commissioner has ruled.

The ruling, published on Tuesday, follows a complaint filed in January by ADPD deputy chair Carmel Cacopardo.

Cacopardo argued that Buttigieg’s appointment as PA head created a conflict of interest due to his prior role as a consultant to private developers, including Malta Development Association chief Michael Stivala

He described this as a form of lobbying in which a sector, such as construction, “ends up being regulated by a person who was active in the lobby until a short while ago”.

In his replies to the complaint, Planning Minister Clint Camilleri said Buttigieg had ended all his private consultancies before taking on the PA role.

The commissioner found that public sector rules on revolving doors do exist, but they apply only to individuals leaving government positions, not those entering them.

In practice, the rules prohibit a person who is leaving certain public roles from taking on jobs with private entities they previously dealt with for a two-year span.

However, these rules do not apply when a person takes on a public role, the commissioner says in his ruling.

The ruling points to a series of recommendations made by the OECD to regulate lobbying, which have yet to be implemented.

These include the introduction of a “cooling-off period” for lobbyists joining the public administration and extending rules on standards in public life to also apply to members of government boards.

“Implementing these measures would minimise the risk of ‘state capture’ – where interests that the State should regulate end up assuming undue influence within the State,” the commissioner wrote, adding that it is “has become more urgent for these proposals to be introduced”.

In 2020, the standards commissioner published a consultation paper, setting out how lobbying should be regulated.

At the time, the Malta Chamber had also called for the introduction of a government-wide lobbying register.

Cacopardo: We disagree with this ruling

Reacting to the ruling, Cacopardo and the ADPD said they disagreed with its conclusions. 

"It is clearly evident that Johann Buttigieg's appointment was not done with respect to the ethical principles specified in  article 13(2) of the Standards in Public Life Act," the party said.

"However, it is good to see the commission draw attention to the fact that his office has long been calling for the code of ethics to be clearer. The commissioner also noted that his office's proposals about standards in public life have been ignored for the past five years," Cacopardo added.