The assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia last week sent shock waves across this quiet island. Gossip columns never discussed with so much alacrity this atrocity, not since that black day 40 years ago when young Karen Grech was killed by a parcel bomb she picked at home that had been meant for her father. To this day, her murder has never been solved.

In these times of powerful social media, the heinous act on a journalist was widely debated. She was being sued in over 40 libel cases mostly due to her investigative blogs, targeting mainly PL political bigwigs which fanned the fires of retribution. That the country is in a state of "shock" and intense anger is understandable while mourning continues by various social groups who shun such an atrocious act against freedom of expression. Away from tribal politics, can we stop for a moment to reflect? Daphne shot from the hip targeting all sides of the political spectrum not sparing members of organized crime, yet can we now risk going down the route of mud-slinging and perpetual finger pointing. It is certainly a dark cloud that is tarnishing our reputation and the quicker the killer is found the better so that justice is served and the nation has closure.

However, can we afford to continue ruining our international reputation and undermine national institutions built meticulously over years? Can our zest to protest ever escalate out of order to permit sympathisers to exploit this delicate emotional chapter in our history? Democracy is like a rubber band but it should not be stretched beyond the safety limit. Alternattiva stated this week that "the common good must prevail over partisan pique that has ruined the sense of state and the ethical core of this country. This country must seek long-term solutions over political jockeying." In Brussels, we heard the lamentations of Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, saying on Twitter that in Malta corruption seems to be widespread and has become a profitable business model. Can this be a fair comment coming from such an important political source? Will it not scare away investment?

Not surprisingly, a spokesman said that "the government of Malta unequivocally refutes such claims and looks forward to the EU fact-finding mission so that it could, hopefully, assess the situation factually." Prime Minister Joseph Muscat denied all allegations and said that this murder was a barbaric act and will not rest before justice is done. The state is offering a million euro for informants. It is high time that we stop this haemorrhage of self-criticism against the island branding us as a centre for corruption, a Mecca for Mafia gambling thugs, money laundering and an unbridled tax haven. We are not spotless and the revelation by the Panama Papers that offshore companies were secretly opened with the help of accountants Nexia BT for political persons in high places was a bolt out of the blue. Such politically exposed persons were not made to resign and the aura of guilt lingered on albeit the mysterious millions allegedly stashed away were never confirmed. No smoking gun was tabled.

Still another shock revelation leaked by Daphne concerning the Opposition leader saying he had a Jersey bank account allegedly holding illicit gains from a Soho brothel on behalf of a client did ruffle many feathers. All this pales in significance when we recall that four years ago we heard about the LuxLeaks report where multinationals signed covert tax deals with the Luxembourg finance ministry (now president of the EU) saving billions in taxes. Another scary story involved tax evasion by US multinational Amazon. It has been ordered to repay €250m (£222m) in illegal state aid to Luxembourg, as EU authorities continue their campaign against sweetheart deals that help big corporations evade taxes. Luxembourg's "illegal tax advantages to Amazon" had allowed almost three-quarters of the company's profits to go untaxed, allowing it to pay four times less tax than local rivals did. The Commission said Amazon had benefited from an illegal tax deal granted by the Luxembourg authorities that allowed the company to artificially reduce its tax bill by €250m from 2006 to 2014. Not surprisingly, Amazon rejected the findings of the investigation.

The EU is to launch an investigation into a British government scheme that may help multinational firms pay less tax. Officials think the special exemption in London for multinationals may break EU competition rules by allowing them to pay less tax than domestic-only rivals. Last summer, the European commission announced that it planned to take the Irish government to the European court of justice over its failure to collect €13bn in unpaid taxes from Apple, in relation to an earlier ruling. Apple, which has appealed to Europe's highest court to contest the decision, has neither repaid the money to the Irish government nor placed the money in an escrow account. The reply from Ireland vis-à-vis such accusations of lax tax laws did not unleash public protestations against tax dodgers or street demonstrations in Dublin to protest against tax evasion and corruption. There were no Irish MEPs in Brussels who cried wolf and rubbished Dublin as a leading financial centre. Not only did the Irish refrain from denigrating their own country but in a move to maintain Ireland's reputation as a low-tax country for multinationals, its finance minister introduced a "knowledge development" box to encourage corporations to conduct research and development and be awarded with still generous tax breaks.

In Malta, we never dared implement such an innovation box (so common in The Netherlands) since regrettably while we offer incentives to attract FDI we do not strive to attract R & D to our shores. Closer to home, the Commission requested a €20m fine plus daily penalty payments against Italy over the country's refusal to collect back taxes from Sardinian hotels that had benefited from special deals. Having mentioned some of the more glaring peccadillos of EU financial centres one cannot but reflect that if we can for once remove our political blinkers and unite, then we can achieve more to enhance our wellbeing. It is a pity that having an economy which reached and exceeded full employment we are reluctant to forgo our tribal loyalties and pull on the same rope for progress. One such trophy awaits us in Brussels to host the European Medical Agency when it relocates from London. There are 19 cities ranging from Stockholm to Bucharest all seeking to woo the agency. The government has offered a prime seafront site at SmartCity together with a host of other advantages but I see no MEPs in Brussels waving red and white flags to court sympathy and draw attention to our claim. EU leaders will discuss the two institutions, namely EMA and the European Banking Authority, both located in London and a final vote for the winner is expected next month. Can we regroup and intensify our bid in the next few weeks, because as always, the early bird catches the worm.

 

Mr Mangion can be contacted at [email protected] or on +356 21493041