The imbroglio by José Barroso and his pals against John Dalli is the subject of a film released in Brussels and Strasbourg.

A film on John Dalli has just been presented in Brussels. Dalli is depicted in one of the plots of this film, which is based on the work of José Bové’s writings. Bové, an MEP between 2009 and 2019, wrote about the insalubrious goings-on that prevailed in the European Commission while José Barrosowas was there. It is worth remembering that Barroso was one with Lawrence Gonzi.

The French film, directed and written by Antoine Raimbaults, is called Une Affair de Principe (A Matter of Principle), in which Commissioner John Dalli’s battle against the tobacco lobby is recounted. As a result of his battle with this lobby group, Dalli was dismissed as Commissioner. The Malta Police fabricated ugly accusations against him, and proceedings in Malta are still ongoing.

It should be recalled that the mainstream media, comprising the Times of Malta and the Curia media, relentlessly campaigned against John Dalli. Today, even in the courts, it is clear that John Dalli was a victim of Giovani Kessler, the former Secretary General, who has been found guilty by the Brussels court of abusing his power. This film exposes all the corruption in the European Commission, and Bové rightly considers his movie a work of principle.

The European Union does not want transparency in John Dalli’s case and does not wish the OLAF files on this case to be made public. It does not want a special commission to be set up to investigate what today is being labelled the “Dalli Affair”. On the other hand, John Dalli agrees that there should be an inquiry so that all the truth concerning this horrendous imbroglio against him by Barroso and the Tobacco lobby is brought to light.

“On April 17,, [2013] the European Parliament meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg voted on two amendments tabled jointly by Bart Staes for the Greens group and Ingeborg Grässle for the EPP group. One of them, Amendment 27, is a request for transparency which aims, without naming it, at obstructing parliamentarians from having access to Olaf’s file. It is truly a vote of no confidence, a response from deputies to the refusal of their group presidents to create a special commission on the “Dalli affair”. This vote is based on a convenient EPP-Green alliance that reflects the concerns of the majority of European parliamentarians. By analyzing the votes – 392 votes for, 226 votes against and 58 abstentions – we note that the Socialists and Democrats (SD) group voted against transparency (what deal do they have with the Commission?), that the European People’s Party (EPP) voted in favour (including their president Joseph Daul who the previous week opposed the creation of a special committee), that slayers of opacity like Marine and Jean-Marie Le Pen or even Jean-Luc Mélenchon abstained.”

Already the film has already been premiered privately in Brussels and Strasbourg. The film will become available to the general public from May 1, 2024, and is expected to be available on French TV channels.