European Parliament President Roberta Metsola in Brussels, Belgium, December 15, 2022. JOHN THYS v AFP
European leaders, who met in Brussels on Thursday, December 15, listened at length to statements by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola about “Qatargate” – the attempts by the emirate, the decisions of the European Influencing the Union destabilizes his institution. “A dozen of them spoke out,” says a witness. One silence was noted: that of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who nonetheless ridiculed the backlash of the parliament – which in September had adopted a resolution concluding that his country was no longer a democracy.
Also read: “Qatargate”: What we know about suspected corruption in the European Parliament
Ms Metsola urgently launched a ten-point plan aimed at restoring Parliament’s credibility and making up for the many shortcomings highlighted by the Belgian judiciary’s investigations, which were based on long work by the secret services. The Maltese official spoke of a “package of far-reaching reforms that will be ready early next year”.
In particular, the President intends to revise the entry in the transparency register, which requires all appointments of elected officials to be declared with outsiders – and whose rules are apparently too loose. It also wants to control access to the meetings of its former members. They currently have a kind of permissiveness.
More generally, it would be a question of reviewing the rules for “persons entitled to enter the European Parliament”, including some 49,000 lobbyists and delegates from 12,500 organizations moving to Brussels. State representatives received by MPs would also be targeted, who are currently not required to mention these visits.
“Manipulated” structures
Ms Metsola also stated her desire to ban unofficial friendship groups with third countries. Elected officials can create such structures that today are not monitored and accountable to anyone. The European Union (EU)-Qatar Friendship Group is therefore not listed on the European Parliament’s website, but its composition is mentioned on that of the emirate’s embassy in Brussels. It has been put on hold since the scandal broke, at the request of its president, Spanish MEP José Ramon Bauza (Renew, Liberal), who was in Qatar last week.
During a closed-door meeting of the European People’s Party (EPP, Conservative) ahead of the summit, Ms Metsola shared further details with her colleagues. For example, in a more alarmist tone, she stressed that the issues raised were “systemic” and that certain structures within the assembly were being “manipulated.” The President also revealed that she turned down an invitation from Qatar to the World Cup. “Because I’m worried about this country,” she said.
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