European Parliament President Antonio Tajani has insisted that he will only speak about the Panama Papers scandal after an official inquiry into the matter is concluded.
Last year Mr Tajani, who was then vice-president of the European People’s Party, questioned what was going on in Malta after revelations that former energy minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri, had opened secret companies in Panama.
“What is going on in Malta? The socialist government is in difficulty over the Panama Papers scandal,” Mr Tajani said last April.
Mr Tajani now says that it is not within his remit to get into such matters.
Asked if he was still concerned about the situation in Malta, Mr Tajani said he was now the EP President and therefore had to remain neutral.
“My personal position is my personal position,” he explained.
Asked if his personal position on Malta had remained the same, Mr Tajani again drew a distinction between his personal opinion and official role.
I do not change ideas every few days. I promised I would be neutral. This needed to change
“My personal position is my personal position. I do not change ideas every few days. I promised I would be neutral. This needed to change. We need a speaker and not a prime minister [in the EP].”
Mr Tajani, who is a former spokesman for Silvio Berlusconi, was elected yesterday after a run-off with Gianni Pitella from the socialist group.
He takes over from Martin Schulz, who announced in November that he would not be seeking re-election in order to enter German politics.
Mr Tajani said he would only weigh in on the Panama Papers as president of the EP, after the Panama Papers committee had concluded its inquiry.
The committee will visit Malta next month on a fact-finding mission.
Mr Tajani said he would explain the commission’s position with the chairman of the committee once it had concluded its inquiry.
During an address to the European Parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat avoided telling MEPs if the government intended to cooperate with the committee.
A number of MEPs raised the Panama Papers scandal during Dr Muscat’s address.
He assured journalists at a later press conference that Dr Mizzi was under his “direct supervision”.
Dr Muscat reminded them that Dr Mizzi had lost his portfolio.
Despite this, Dr Mizzi has been appointed to chair the EU’s Energy Council during Malta’s presidency.