A damning report issued by a group of investigative journalists shows that Malta has become a "pirate base" for tax avoidance in the European Union. 

Over the last three months, journalistic network European Investigative Collaboration (EIC) dug into over 150,000 documents that show how international companies take advantage of this system.

They have labelled the investigation as the Malta Files, and were uploaded online last night.

Malta operates a tax system where companies pay the lowest tax on profits in the EU - only five per cent. Although benefiting from the advantages of EU membership, Malta also welcomes large companies and wealthy private clients looking to dodge taxes in their home countries.

This damages the budgets of other EU-countries and reveals a weakness in the European Union, which allows member states sovereign rights over their taxation.

The Malta Files investigative project was undertaken by the network European Investigative Collaborations (EIC), which has brought together 13 media and 49 journalists in 16 countries and 12 languages.

Tens of stories were piblished in Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Germany, France, Serbia, the Netherlands and Croatia, all condemning Malta's position.