The summary procedure was initiated at the request of the Belgian authorities. One Italian MEP and one Belgian MEP are concerned, both members of the Socialist Group.
“No impunity”. The European Parliament announced on Monday that it had initiated summary proceedings to lift the immunity of two MPs over an investigation into corruption within the institution involving Qatar, following a request from Belgian judicial authorities.
“I have initiated urgent proceedings to lift the impunity of two members of the European Parliament,” announced the President of the institution, Roberta Metsola, on Twitter this Monday. “There will be no impunity,” she assured.
The two MPs involved are Italian Andrea Cozzolino and Belgian Marc Tarabella, both from the S&D (Social Democrats) group, sources familiar with the matter have told AFP.
This is a new twist in the affair that has rocked the European Parliament for several weeks. The Belgian judiciary suspects that large payments from Qatar influence the decisions of certain MPs.
Former Vice-President of the European Parliament indicted
The investigation began last July in Belgium. The Brussels judiciary then investigates the existence of a potential criminal organization that has been planted in the European Parliament.
Searches carried out in mid-December led to the indictment of several MEPs and in particular the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, with “affiliation to a criminal organisation”, “money laundering” and “corruption”.
Among those arrested were his companion, Italian Francesco Giorgi, who is also Andrea Cozzolino’s parliamentary assistant, former Italian socialist MEP Pier-Antonio Panzeri, and an NGO official, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca.
1.5 million euros in cash
The 44-year-old Greek was stripped of her title as Vice President of the European Parliament by an almost unanimous vote on December 13.
She was then held in detention at the end of December after her application for placement with an electronic bracelet was rejected. She did not benefit from her parliamentary immunity as the offense had been declared in flagrante delicto, with “sacks of tickets” discovered in her home.
In total, Belgian investigators have seized €1.5 million in cash from the homes of Antonio Panzeri and Eva Kaili, as well as from a suitcase carried by their father, according to a court source.
The application was officially formulated on January 16th
The President of the European Parliament will officially forward the request for the waiver of immunity to MEPs during their next plenary session on 16 January in Strasbourg. The parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) then has to examine it behind closed doors and make a proposal for a decision, which all MPs then vote on in plenary.
The Speaker of Parliament “has asked all services and committees to prioritize this process with a view to its conclusion on February 13,” according to a press release.
On December 13, the Belgian Socialist Party decided to suspend Marc Tarabella from his membership. And on December 16, the Democratic Party of Italy announced that it would remove Andrea Cozzolino from its membership list “as a precautionary measure, pending the completion of the ongoing investigation into the ‘Qatargate’ scandal,” to “protect the” party -Image”.
Juliette Desmonceaux with AFP