Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri have to step down or be dismissed and the sale of passports scheme must be suspended immediately, an MEP involved in Malta's rule of law delegation has insisted. 

Amid new revelations by the so-called Daphne Project, the European Parliament's mission to Malta met on Thursday morning in Strasbourg. 

The Daphne Project has so far revealed that Economy Minister Chris Cardona had met with one of the men accused of plating the bomb which killed Daphne Caruana Galizia. Leaked documents also showed a total of €1.3 million had been transferred to 17 Black, a Dubai company listed as one of the "target clients" which would pay in money to Mr Schembri's and Dr Mizzi's once-secret Panama companies.

In a statement, German MEP Sven Giegold, financial and economic policy spokesperson of the Greens/EFA group was categoric: "The situation in Malta is unbearable. The new revelations must lead to drastic changes to counter the general perception of corruption and a weakening of the rule of law."

He said the group had asked for an urgent meeting with Commission Vice- President Frans Timmermans to discuss the new revelations and the findings of their mission to Malta.

Read: Muscat's reaction to rule of law report 'disrespectful' - MEP

The group will be writing to the Maltese Parliament and to ask for a meeting with official authorities in Malta.

Mr Giegold, a highly critical MEP of the Muscat administration, said his group will be writing to the new head of Europol for a meeting to promote their involvement in the investigations.

They will also call for a meeting with the Conference of Presidents with a view to a debate the situation with the EU Commission and adopt a plenary resolution.

"The European Parliament should use all its means to ensure that, this time, concrete action is taken. The European Commission has to overcome its light touch policy on the rule of law problems in Malta and urgently act as the guardian of European values."