The run-away train that is Malta is fast accelerating and heading into an uncharted territory as the Leo Brincat application to join the European Court of Auditors moves on to the next level.
In all probability, Mr Brincat’s application will be approved by the Council.
But that is not the end of it, by far.
The issue, and the way it was handled, has brought Malta into a very awkward position and possibly laid the groundwork for an institutional clash between the Parliament and the Council, a never-ending feud.
The issue is not what will happen to Mr Brincat. The issue is what will happen to the rest of the Maltese Cabinet.
The first target for the EU pressure is undoubtedly Minister Konrad Mizzi. He has been, or undoubtedly will be, summoned by the EP committee that is examining the Panama Papers and their implications for the EU.
Rumours are rife saying he has already been summoned twice and tried to send lawyers instead of him. Whether this is true or not is unknown. What is known is that the EU will get its man. The inquiry committee on Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector (EMIS) heard Günter Verheugen, Commissioner for enterprise and industry 2004-2010 two weeks ago. Verheugen tried twice to avoid going. At the end he had to.
That is as regards Konrad Mizzi. The other members of Cabinet will most probably think they have ducked their heads and will not be targeted. Most probably they are wrong.
In the six months when Malta occupies the Presidency of the EU, the Maltese ministers will have to preside over each and every council meeting. In fact they will hardly be in Malta at all.
Now a Parliament that has been snubbed by the Council is a very angry Parliament and it may focus its anger at each and every Maltese minister who appears before it.
The question may well be out of context of the particular Council meeting, but the Maltese ministers may well find themselves having to answer the same questions that Leo Brincat had to answer, especially as regards the Vote of Confidence in Konrad Mizzi.
In other words, instead of focusing on the subject matter of the Council meeting, the Maltese ministers may find that the real subject is Malta. When Malta expected to get glory and renown out of the Presidency, it may find that instead it will get quite a negative spotlight shining on it.
Maltese ministers know, and the other MPs know, from their trips to Brussels and from their EU meetings, that searching questions about Malta have become the order of the day. So too journalists, businessmen and anybody who has contacts with Brussels and with foreign governments.
The word is out that all is not well in Malta and that there are widespread allegations of corruption directed at the government. This is the age of the internet and anything written in Malta gets immediate scrutiny all over the world.
This is all the more reason why the issue should have been nipped in the bud and sanitized very early in the day. That this has not happened will have huge negative impacts on all Malta.