Għat-tielet sena konsekuttiva l-Kummissjoni Ewropea llimitat in-numru ta’ rakkomandazzjonijiet annwali tagħha fuq Malta – l-hekk imsejħa Country Specific Recommendations – għal tnejn biss. Kienu biss l-Iżvezja u d-Danimarka li għandhom inqas rakkommandazzjonijiet, bl-akbar numru ta’ rakkomandazzjonijiet, ħamsa, ingħata lil Ċipru.
Fil-bidu ta’ din l-amministrazzjoni, il-Kummissjoni kienet għamlet sitt country specific recommendations għal pajjiżna. Dawn huma kollha sinjali ta’ avvanz ta’ pajjiżna filwaqt li hemm rakkommandazzjonijiet ġodda fejn il-Kummissjoni Ewropea tinnota li Malta mxiet ’il quddiem iżda li jonqosha tissaħħaħ, bħal fil-ġlieda kontra l-korruzzjoni u kontra l-ħasil tal-flus.
Kontra l-propaganda li xi wħud qed ixerrdu li pajjiżna mhux jikkopera mal-istituzzjonijiet Ewropej, jingħad li “the Commission takes note of Malta’s commitment to fight against taxpayers aggressive tax planning”. Barra minn hekk jingħad li jeżisti “constructive dialogue to fight against taxpayers aggressive planning strategies” bejn il-Kummissjoni u l-Gvern Malti. Fejn tidħol is-superviżjoni finanzjarja l-Kummissjoni tinnota li “some progress has been made in improving cross-border cooperation.” Ir-rapport tal-Kummissjoni jgħid ukoll li “in addition, following the transposition of the directive into national law, the Maltese authorities have recently presented an integrated strategy to fight money laundering and terrorist financing.”
Ir-rapport tal-Kummissjoni jinnota li hemm bzonn ikompli t-titjib fl-operat tas-sistema ġudizzjarja f’pajjiżna u li tkompli tissaħħaħ il-governanza f’pajjiżna.
Ta’ min jinnota li f’diversi pajjiżi saru kummenti u rakkomandazzjonijiet ferm aktar qawwija minn hekk.
Għall-Belġju jingħad li “serious concerns remain about the justice system.”
Fir-rigward tal-Portugall tissemma’ l-perċezzjoni ta’ “corruption and lack of transparency”, filwaqt li fejn tidħol l-Italja jingħad li “corruption remains a major challenge.”
Fil-każ tas-Slovakkja, fejn kien hemm qtil ta’ ġurnalist fix-xhur li għaddew li ġibed inqas attenzjoni tal-mezzi tax-xandir internazzjonali. Mhux l-istess taħseb il-Kummissjoni Ewropea dwar is-Slovakkja li fil-Country Specific Recommendations.
Il-KE dwar is-Slovakkja qalet: “Corruption, complex administrative procedures, excessive and fast-changing business regulations and the poor quality of regulatory bodies heavily affect the quality of Slovakia’s business environment.”
Dwar is-Slovakkja żżid: “Overall, no progress has been achieved in stepping up the fight against corruption. Corruption perceptions remain high and prosecutions for such offences have fallen further. The perception of corruption has further deteriorated in the wake of the murder of an investigative journalist and his findings on a wide range of high-level corruption cases. The proportion of high-level cases prosecuted is extremely low. The lack of accountability for police and public prosecutors has not been resolved and hinder the fight against corruption and investigations of sensitive corruption cases.”
Filwaqt li f’Malta l-indipendenza tal-ġudikatura ssaħħet, dwar is-Slovakkja l-Kummissjoni tgħid li “Concerns about the independence of the judiciary persist, including the appointment processes for judges at all levels of the judiciary.”
Il-KE tgħid li r-Repubblika Ċeka għandha tindirizza l-public procurement. Fir-rakkommandazzjoni tgħid: “Address weaknesses in public procurement practices, notably by enabling more quality-based competition and by implementing anti-corruption measures.”
Dwar l-Italja, il-KE tgħid: “Achieve more effective prevention and repression of corruption by reducing the length of criminal trials and implementing the new anti-corruption framework.”
Ir-rakkomandazzjoni lill-Ungerija tgħid: “Reinforce the anti-corruption framework, strengthen prosecutorial efforts and improve transparency and competition in public procurement…”
Lir-Rumanija: “Improve the transparency and efficiency of public procurement.”
Ir-rakkommandazzjoni għas-Slovenja tgħid: “Enhance competition, professionalisation and independent oversight in public procurement.”
Lil-Latvja: “Strengthen the accountability of public administration by protecting whistle-blowers, preventing conflicts of interest…”
B’kuntrast, ir-rakkommandazzjoni dwar Malta hija: “by continuing to step up the fight against corruption.” Dan ifisser li qed jaraw progress f’dan il-qasam f’pajjiżna, il-korruzzjoni tissemma’ fir-rakkomandazzjonijiet magħmula għal seba’ pajjiżi oħra imma b’mod ferm aktar kritiku.
