The Office of the Prime Minister refers to a statement published in connection with the report of the Committee of Experts Regarding the media and the attached letter.
The moment it received the report, the Government immediately published a statement to inform that it had received this report. The Government is also bound by the terms of reference to place the report on the table of the House of Representatives and this will be done on the first day that the Parliament meets.
After a number of extensions were requested the report was passed to the Government when the Parliament was adjourned, and the intention of the Government is that as soon as the Parliament is meeting again this report will be published in the first day and therefore in the first possibility. The report will be published in full with complete transparency as the Government has always shown in this process.
Regarding the consultation process, the Government recalls that it had already drafted a number of laws that would greatly strengthen the profession of journalism and it was on its own initiative that it forwarded them to the Committee of Experts for its first response.
Based on the response of a report it received, which was also published, the Government submitted laws in Parliament. Although a consultation had already taken place, the Institute of Maltese Journalists felt that more consultation should take place. The Government had no problem.
Once again the Committee of Experts was entrusted with this process and the Committee undertook to widen the consultation so much that it even organized a conference for this purpose. A few weeks ago the Committee gave the final report on which it will now be evaluated and the legislative process can be carried out. This is a process where the Government has neither kept nor will keep anything secret, while it has never closed the door to consultation.
