Status: 12/17/2022 4:04 am
Searches, arrests and bags of euro banknotes: the corruption scandal in the EU Parliament has rocked Brussels and overshadowed plenary week in Strasbourg. The anxious question: What else will be revealed?
By Jakob Mayr, ARD Studio Brussels
An official red seal is attached to the door of office number 069 on the twelfth floor of the European Parliament building in Strasbourg. Next to it hangs a note stamped with Parliament and which reads: “Sealed office, no entry allowed.”
EN Logo Jakob Mayr ARD studio Brussels
Usually Eva Kaili works here with her team, the Greek MP elected by the socialist PASOK party. But nothing has been normal in the European parliament for a week now.
Kaili is in custody, along with his partner Francesco Giorgi, former deputy Pier Antonio Panzeri and lobbyist Nicolo Figa-Talamanca. Giorgi and Panzeri together founded the non-governmental organization “Fight Impunity”, which Qatar and Morocco are said to have used to buy political influence with cash and gifts.
Kaili and her entourage would have taken the money. Belgian investigators found bags of cash during house searches.
Eva Kaili’s sealed office: No one is allowed to work in office 069 at this time. Image: AFP
Attack from outside? Better not
The scandal became public last weekend. The following Monday, the members of the European Parliament and their staff left for the plenary week in Strasbourg. The revelations about the Qatar connection are already a dominant topic on the train from Brussels.
Many deputies look downright distraught. They realize that their institution’s reputation is at stake; an institution that considered itself a pioneer in the fight against corruption and the rule of law in Europe. It’s not the first scandal involving embezzlement and shenanigans in the European Parliament – but nobody remembers a scandal of this magnitude.
And immediately the anxious question resounds: what next?
petrified faces
A tense contemplation prevails in the parliamentary corridors of Strasbourg: in the hall of the refectory, a Basque male choir sings the “Alleluia”, on the edge of the plenary room, Austrian students from Wels and Steyr sing at the invitation of their country’s Christian Democrats.
But in the adjoining plenary, expressions were petrified, and many were surprised when the Speaker of Parliament, Roberta Metsola, commented on the matter for the first time this Monday afternoon.
Malta’s Christian Democrat speaks of an attack on Parliament, democracy and the European way of life. That sounds like an attack from the outside.
In fact, it’s the opposite: the scandal is happening in the middle of parliament. Kaili is one of its 14 vice presidents until she was ousted by a near-unanimous midweek plenary session. Former Members of Parliament and Parliamentary staff are implicated.
Big loss of reputation
The Socialist Group quickly excludes Kaili. President Iratxe García Pérez announces an internal investigation. Even so, there are internal criticisms of the Spanish crisis management. They don’t have the matter under control, they say, and they make tactical mistakes.
In the plenary, the accusations of guilt are limited. EPP parliamentary group leader Manfred Weber even called for the scandal not to be exploited in party politics. Apparently, the concern that their own ranks might be affected is too great, and the loss of reputation caused by the revelations so far is too great.
There is growing concern among pro-European groups that right-wing parties could use the scandal to create sentiment in their favor in the upcoming European elections. So Parliament is doing what it can in this situation: the Bureau is ensuring the full cooperation of the Belgian authorities.
All legislative projects related to Qatar are on hold: there is no planned visa facilitation for travelers to the emirate for now. Parliament also wants to examine the decision to further open up European airspace to state-owned airline Qatar Airways.
New rules for an old problem
And the EU Parliament is getting tough: It has comparatively strict lobbying rules, but association representatives must be registered in a corresponding register to gain access. Parliamentarians are often required to publish meetings with lobbyists online.
But the corruption scandal reveals loopholes in the rules: in future, discussions with government representatives from non-EU countries will also be recorded. Parliamentarians want to declare assets, show their additional income and ban any form of external funding for their staff and parliamentary groups.
Until now, parliament has practically controlled itself, the ethics committee is made up of deputies. In the near future, outside experts will check that everyone is following the rules. The EU Commission wants to make a proposal on this.
The Greens and the Left in Parliament feel justified – they have been calling for an independent ethics committee for some time.
Processing is just beginning, the damage is enormous, the scandal has shaped the plenary week in Strasbourg. While the EU’s 27 heads of state and government took a surprising number of far-reaching decisions at this year’s last summit, the EU Parliament is busy with other things: itself.