The tributes paid to murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in the European Parliament on Tuesday, when a debate was held on media freedom and the protection of journalists, were moving. The discussion, however, did not only centre on Daphne’s incredible courage as a journalist but also focused on the fact that the rule of law in Malta, an EU Member State, has been severely undermined by Joseph Muscat’s government over the last four- and-a-half years.

Throughout the debate, MEPs continuously stressed that the rule of law and freedom of expression need to be safeguarded across the European Union. As a Liberal MEP, Sophia in’t Veld, stated: “If one Member State doesn’t uphold European standards on rule of law, then that would mean there is no rule of law in Europe, so it’s in all our interests to investigate.” Another MEP, Sven Giegold from the Greens, put it more bluntly when he said: “This is Europe not Russia”.

Indeed, this appalling murder seems to have acted as a wake-up call for the EU to finally speak out about the erosion of respect for the rule of law in Malta. It bears repeating by way of illustration: the country has had five police commissioners since March 2013; there have been five other car bomb attacks since last year all of which are unsolved; the Police Commissioner and the Attorney General have failed to take action against senior government officials and other individuals implicated in serious corruption allegations; the independence of several other institutions, such as the anti-money laundering agency, has been compromised; and the army was purged following Labour’s 2013 victory.

Before Daphne was killed, the European Union had remained silent. Her death, however, seems to have focused minds sharply on this all-important issue for the functioning of a healthy democracy, EU-style. MEPs are now urging the Commission to enter into dialogue with the Maltese government on the rule of law in a manner similar to what it did with Hungary and Poland. And the European Parliament has decided to send a delegation to Malta to investigate the rule of law, corruption and money laundering.

Frans Timmermans, the vice-president of the Commission told the Parliament, said: “They [the Maltese authorities] must show the world their rules and regulations are robust, and if the investigation exposes problems of a more general and systematic nature, then these will be addressed by the European Commission regardless of the consequences.”

There can be no doubt about the systemic nature of the problem. This newspaper has argued for many years now about the need to strengthen the independence of the institutions. The government now has the perfect opportunity to set the ball rolling. It could start by immediately dismissing the Police Commissioner and Attorney General and replacing them by independent-minded individuals, possibly with the support of two thirds of MPs, as the Opposition Nationalist Party and the Civil Society Network are demanding.

That would be just the start. It has become clearer than ever that there is a dire need to upgrade our Constitution to one that enshrines more robust controls on the exercise of government power.

It is also very clear that the EU needs to develop a more comprehensive mechanism for safeguarding the rule of law within the Union. Brussels has mechanisms to regulate economic policies, safeguard the environment and monitor the Single Market, but Europe’s values, as we have seen in Poland, Hungary and Malta, also require protection.

True, a procedure exists whereby the European Commission may determine “that there is a clear risk of a serious breach by a Member State” of the EU’s fundamental values, which could lead to the particular country losing its voting rights in the European Council. However, this formula has never been used. And it requires the unanimous consent of all the other Member States, making it difficult to trigger if two or more like-minded countries join forces.

A proposal by Germany suggests linking access to EU funds to a country’s performance on governance and the rule of law. This proposition should be seriously considered, and would undoubtedly have a powerful deterrent effect on countries like Malta, Poland and Hungary which benefit tremendously from EU coffers.

We strongly urge the EU and its institutions to monitor the situation in Malta meticulously and to take the necessary measures in the event that the government makes no progress in restoring the rule of law.

This call to action is not a betrayal of the country. When we joined the EU, we joined a Union of values. These values must be safeguarded at all costs for the good of Malta.