A member of the European Parliament’s Socialists and Democrats group will chair the delegation coming to Malta at the end of the month to investigate the situation regarding the rule of law in the country, this newspaper has learnt.

European Parliament sources told The Sunday Times of Malta that Socialist MEP Ana Gomes is among those most likely to chair the delegation, which is expected to arrive for a two-day visit on November 30.

While the names on the delegation list should be finalised tomorrow, they will be MEPs who have for months followed the situation in Malta closely, a source said.

The choice of a socialist chair was not a coincidence but done purposely to eliminate any speculation that the visit is motivated by local partisan politics, the source added.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament called upon the European Commission to initiate a dialogue with the Maltese government on the functioning of the rule of law in Malta. The S&D was the only group that did not sign the resolution, although some of its members voted in favour.

Labour Party MEPs, who voted against the resolution, have repeatedly questioned the motives behind last Tuesday’s rule of law debate in the European Parliament, saying it could call into question the Parliament’s credibility. They accuse the Opposition of orchestrating the debate in an attempt to tarnish the government’s track record.

While refuting claims that the rule of law in Malta is under any form of threat, the government has welcomed the fact-finding mission, as this will allow MEPs to “assess the situation factually”.

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The likely chair, Ms Gomes, has long been vociferous about the situation in Malta, repeatedly insisting that the island’s tax system could be prone to money laundering. A critic of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s decision not to sack his chief of staff, Keith Schembri, and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi over their involvement in the Panama Papers scandal, Ms Gomes also served as vice-chair of the Pana Committee, which investigated the implications of that leak.

The European Parliament took the decision to send a group of MEPs to Malta last month after the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia on October 16.

A large majority of MEPs voted in favour of the resolution, put during a heated 90-minute debate in which Malta came under heavy fire. The vote passed with a large majority, with 466 MEPs voting in favour, 49 against and 167 abstaining.

Co-signed by all European Parliament groupings bar the S&D group, of which Labour Party MEPs form part, the resolution outlines a series of concerns EU parliamentarians have about Malta and calls on the Commission, among other things, to investigate whether Malta is compliant with EU anti-money-laundering laws.

While on the island, the delegation of MEPs in expected to look into the concerns highlighted during the debate, as well as the resolution. A member from each EP group will make up the delegation.

While the visit will not be a repeat of the fact-finding mission by the Pana Committee last February, the MEPs are still expected to look into issues where the committee felt insufficient information had been supplied.

This included the involvement of Mr Schembri and Nexia BT in the Panama Papers, with Mr Schembri expected to be on the delegation’s list of people they want to interview.

The chief of staff has repeatedly refused to appear in front of EU institutions investigating allegations involving him directly.

Ana Gomes on Malta

In comments to this newspaper ahead of the rule of law debate on Tuesday, Ms Gomes said some of the problems the island was experiencing may be seen in other Member States but were “very serious” in Malta.

Ana Gomes during a press conference in Malta with the European Parliament’s PANA committee, which was investigating the Panama Papers.

“The problem is something that is not happening only in Malta but it is very serious there. It’s the capture of the state by criminal organisations, mainly with links in the financial services, who actually work with criminals involved in tax evasion, tax fraud, money laundering, stashing the corrupt proceeds of businesses all over the world.

“That is the reason why, until this moment, the current Prime Minister has not ditched the minister and his chief of staff, who have been exposed in the Panama Papers. He has not requested an independent investigation into the very serious allegations relating to his own relatives and Pilatus Bank, which has been associated with the kleptocracy of Azerbaijan,” Ms Gomes said.

She added that the problems have been “a long time coming” and were aggravated because they cross party lines. On the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Ms Gomes said she hoped that, with the assistance of Europol, the authorities would identify the murderer soon.

“The way she was assassinated, by a bomb, is a demonstration that there is a link to organised crime. That is why if you allow this kind of industry to go and dominate the political elites and institutions, this will bring violence and insecurity, and this is not just for Malta, it’s for all of us.”