strasbourg france eu lawmakers urge european commission wednesday investigate malta adherence rule law move could lead sanction follow murder campaign journalist rock tiny mediterranean island european parliament non-binding resolution back overwhelm majority deputies criticise maltese government also voice serious concern police independence international money-laundering island move follow murder oct. 16 daphne caruana galizia maltese investigative journalist accuse senior figure government opposition corruption involvement international money-laundering prime minister joseph muscat leader rule labour party deny allegations corruption say everything do find journalist killers european parliament call commission establish dialogue maltese government regard function rule law malta ensure respect european value text resolution say would first step oversight procedure could trigger sanction include suspension malta vote right eu systemic threats rule law confirm address eu member subject penalties poland currently supervision independence judiciary lawmakers also call activation procedure hungary commission monitor member state application eu rule far avoid comment state rule law malta eu small member state population 420,000 people eu executive vice president frans timmermans tell deputies tuesday general concern stage application anti-money launder rule malta text adopt wednesday lawmakers cite several high-profile case allege corruption risk money launder involve government members well island flourish online game industry maltese scheme sell citizenship wealthy individuals maltese government say statement eu text contain factual inaccuracies partisan political bias clear enough maltese government misinformation lead highly politicise local actors read situation group european parliament try gain leverage negotiations situations member state maltese government say resolution back 466 lawmakers oppose 49 167 abstain deputies also accuse maltese police fail investigate several serious allegations corruption breach anti-money launder bank supervision obligations text also regret police investigation date malta revelations regard panama paper despite appearance 714 company link malta high-ranking officials leak document tax scheme offshore jurisdictions source familiar work maltese authorities reuters review maltese eu data show possible shortcomings malta efforts prevent money launder muscat tell reuters last month malta financial service sector transparent solid compliant european jurisdiction european parliament urge eu probe malta journalist kill