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EU Parliament puts deal with Qatar on hold over corruption allegations

2022-12-15T14:59:41.945Z


EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola announces reforms to fight corruption. "Nothing is swept under the rug," she says. Qatari lobbyists should be locked out.


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Parliament President Roberta Metsola: "I will ensure that everything is done to ensure that Parliament is not for sale"

Photo: JOHANNA GERON / REUTERS

A suspected corruption scandal involving suspected EU politician Eva Kaili has shaken the EU Parliament.

As a consequence, Parliament President Roberta Metsola has now announced "far-reaching" reforms.

Meanwhile, the EU Parliament voted to suspend all legislative activities on Qatar.

Metsola said the reforms included a "ban on all unofficial friendship groups, a review of compliance with our code of conduct, and a thorough review of our relations with third countries."

There had previously been consultations with the EU heads of state and government in Brussels.

Metsola also said that "all meetings" of MPs and staff "with any third-country actor" should be included in the EU transparency register and new sanctions should be introduced.

"Where there are loopholes, I want to plug them," says Metsola.

Ambassadors and diplomats from third countries have so far been exempt from the rules.

Visa facilitation suspended

Meanwhile, MEPs in Strasbourg voted in a non-binding memorandum of understanding to suspend “all work on Qatar-related legislative dossiers until the allegations are either confirmed or dismissed”.

According to the MOU, the suspension primarily applies to visa facilitation for Qatari citizens, an EU-Gulf State air transport agreement and planned trips to Qatar.

541 MPs voted in favor, two against and three abstained.

Metsola had already announced on Monday that planned negotiations with member states on visa facilitation for Qatari citizens were suspended.

The responsible committee in Parliament and the member states had spoken out in favor of citizens from Qatar and Kuwait being able to stay in the EU for up to 90 days without a visa.

However, the formal announcement in the plenary hall was still missing for the start of the negotiations, which has now been suspended.

Qatari lobbyists should be locked out

MEPs also advocated blocking access passes to parliament for lobbyists representing Qatar's interests "until the judicial investigation provides relevant information and clarifications."

According to the parliamentary rules, Metsola has to make a final decision on this.

An EU Parliament spokesman had already confirmed on Sunday that a trip to Qatar planned for next week by members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs would be cancelled.

The Belgian judiciary has been investigating suspected corruption, money laundering and foreign influence in the vicinity of the European Parliament for months.

It is said that the Gulf Emirate of Qatar, which is currently hosting the World Cup, tried to influence decisions with gifts of money and goods.

Since Friday, the Belgian judiciary has arrested six suspects.

Four of them are in custody - among them the Greek Eva Kaili, who has since been removed from her position as Vice-President by the European Parliament, her boyfriend, who works as an assistant to a member of parliament, and the former Social Democrat MEP Antonio Panzeri.

»It takes years to build trust«

“There will be no impunity.

Nothing is swept under the rug.

There will be no 'business as usual',” stressed Metsola.

The allegations are a blow to everything that has been worked on for many years.

"It takes years to build trust and just a moment to break it," Metsola said.

However, the top politician did not rule out that similar scandals could occur in the future.

'But I will make sure everything is done to ensure Parliament is not for sale,' she said.

Specifically, she criticized the fact that there were too many organizations whose funding was unclear and non-transparent.

Action will be taken against this.

ptz/AFP/dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-12-15

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