Five key failures identified by GRECO anti-corruption experts
Prime Minister Robert Abela has long heralded his rise to power in January 2020 as a turning point for good governance and the fight against corruption in Malta. However, assessors from the pan-European anti-corruption body GRECO found his government has not carried out vital reforms recommended in 2019 to increase the country’s ability to combat high-level crime. The assessment, published last week, found that Malta only fully implemented two of the anti-corruption body’s 23 recommendations to fight criminality and improve standards in public life. GRECO concluded further progress is necessary to demonstrate an acceptable level of compliance with its recommendations within the next 18 months. A forgotten anti-corruption policy Promises for a national anti-corruption policy have remained on paper. The token step of setting up an inter-ministerial body to establish an integrity policy was taken, but little else was done, the assessors found. Actual work on the development of the national anti-corruption integrity strategy, which is to be built on a risk assessment, has not yet been initiated. Key quote: “As already underlined in the evaluation report, Malta needs an over-arching...