Finance Minister Edward Scicluna was careful not to engage with MEPs who again pressed him on Malta’s commitment to fight money laundering, Panama Papers leaks and claims of the island being used for tax evasion.

Prof. Scicluna told the European Parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee (Econ) in Brussels on Monday: “As president of the Ecofin group, I am representing all the EU and I won’t delve into issues that are restricted to Malta,” he said.

Reiterating that Malta was not a tax haven and that its tax regime was also approved by the European Commission, he said he was ready to answer all questions related to Malta before the Panama Papers Committee.

Directly addressing Pana committee chairman, Werner Langen, who is also a member of Econ, Prof. Scicluna said he “had no problem in giving all the necessary replies”.

Mr Langen, whose committee is drawing up a report on the Panama Papers and the involvement of member states, criticised the Maltese government for not cooperating.

He asked Prof. Scicluna to declare whether any prosecutions would be initiated in Malta over serious accusations of money laundering concerning the highest echelons of the government, including Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri.

Mr Langen said documents seen by the European Parliament showed that investigations had indicated serious suspicions of money laundering with regard to government members but the police did not act accordingly.

He said Malta had a serious credibility problem within the EU because the government was not seen as acting to stop the abuse and cleaning its own stable.

He wondered whether the island risked being included in a black list of countries known to be tax havens.

Italian MEP Fulvio Martusciello said Malta had recently become the favourite place for Italian companies wanting to avoid tax.

Quoting Prime Minister Joseph Muscat that Malta was experiencing an “economic miracle”, Mr Martusciello attributed this to foreign companies using Malta to avoid paying millions of euros in taxes.

Prof. Scicluna rebutted such claims, deeming them unfounded.

“You can build as many stories as you want and I can do the same on other countries,” Prof Scicluna said, stopping short of mentioning any countries.

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com

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