The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola insisted on Monday on her desire to clean up the practices of the institution after “Qatargate”.
A month after the start of the resounding alleged corruption scandal, the European Parliament, its president in mind, insisted on Monday on its desire to clean up its practices, in an attempt to restore its image as quickly as possible.
“We will take measures to strengthen the fight against corruption and the means to combat foreign interference”, promised Roberta Metsola, in the hemicycle of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, at the opening of the first plenary session of the year. .
“Rebuilding Trust”
Shaken as she is just celebrating her first anniversary as President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola underlined that “the events of the past month have demonstrated the need to rebuild the bonds of trust with the European citizens we represent”.
But many elected officials and observers are calling for more drive and audacity to restore the credibility of Parliament, which was struck by lightning in early December via Belgian justice.
In one weekend, the Greek socialist MEP Eva Kaili, then one of the vice-presidents (the institution has 14), is locked up, as is her spouse, a parliamentary assistant, and a influential former Italian MEP, charged with alleged corruption for the benefit of Qatar. Investigators seized during searches one and a half million euros in small denominations.
A few days later, meeting in Strasbourg, the stunned MEPs immediately withdrew Eva Kaili’s position as vice-president and demanded changes, in particular the suspension of Qatar’s access to Parliament while the judicial inquiry was under way and, at her issue, the creation of a commission of inquiry.
Initial reforms of the institution presented
Implicated, the emirate “firmly rejects” the accusations of corruption. Morocco, whose name is also mentioned, denounces unjustified “media attacks”. In mid-December, Roberta Metsola had promised a “package of far-reaching reforms”, of which she presented a first salvo on Thursday to the presidents of the parliamentary groups, who gave her the green light.
Among these first steps are the restriction of access to the European Parliament to former elected officials, who until now kept the door open, or the registration in the transparency register of all external stakeholders.
Roberta Metsola also wants the gifts, trips or meetings of MEPs within the framework of their mandate to be published, as well as the sanctions imposed.
Professor of EU law at HEC, Alberto Alemanno does not believe that “the imposition of these small rules is sufficient to create a new political culture in the European Parliament”. “This scandal is much more serious than the others for the credibility of the European Union, we could have expected a slightly more serious response, a little more structural than in the past”, considers the lawyer questioned by our colleagues from the AFP.
The Renew group wants a European “HATVP”
The President of the European Parliament insisted on Monday that it was “the beginning and not the end”. “We will start with the measures that can be implemented quickly,” she argued.
MEPs, who are due to debate Tuesday evening on the new developments of “Qatargate”, are calling for them to go further.
The Frenchman Stéphane Séjourné, leader of the Renew group (centrists and liberals), insists in particular on the need to create a “high authority for the transparency of public life at European level”, an idea already put on the table by the European Commission in the past but never materialized.
While the fear persists that the scandal will spread, Belgian justice has requested the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of two other MEPs from the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group: the Belgian Marc Tarabella, whose home was searched in December, and the Italian Andrea Cozzolino. Launched urgently at the beginning of January, the procedure for lifting immunity, which has several stages, was officially communicated to MEPs on Monday for a hoped-for outcome in February.
A new vice-president soon elected
On Wednesday, MEPs will also elect a new vice-president or a new vice-president to replace Eva Kaili. The candidates for this function will be known on Tuesday evening.
“We are not in an imaginary ivory tower,” insisted Roberta Metsola, who has promised since the start of the scandal that there would be no impunity.
EU ombudsman Emily O’Reilly said the scandal needed to trigger a real “culture change” within the institution
“Even though the style of corruption that we are talking about with Qatargate has a very spectacular side, with tickets, suitcases etc., corruption takes place at very different levels, and not all of them are visible to the naked eye like what we have seen in recent weeks on television,” she said.
