Corruption in the European Parliament: the institution launches a procedure to lift the immunity of two elected officials

The investigation is continuing.

The European Parliament announced on Monday that it had launched an emergency procedure after a request from the Belgian judicial authorities to lift the immunity of two MEPs as part of the corruption investigation involving Qatar.

The two elected officials concerned are the Italian Andrea Cozzolino and the Belgian Marc Tarabella, both belonging to the S&D group (Social Democrats), we learned from sources familiar with the matter.

“Responding to a request from the Belgian judicial authorities, I launched an urgent procedure to lift the immunity of two members of Parliament.

There will be no impunity, absolutely none,” European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said on Twitter on Monday.

“Officials will find this Parliament on the side of the law.

Corruption cannot pay and we will do everything to fight it,” she also said.

Following a request from the Belgian judicial authorities, I have launched an urgent procedure for the waiver of immunity of two Members of the European Parliament.

There will be no impunity.

None.

— Roberta Metsola (@EP_President) January 2, 2023

The institution has been shaken by a major scandal since the discovery in mid-December of several bags of banknotes at the home of one of the vice-presidents of parliament, the Greek MEP Eva Kaili, of possible bribes in from Doha.

Investigators from the Federal Judicial Police had suspected for months that a Gulf country was trying to influence the economic and political decisions of the European Parliament by "paying large sums of money or offering significant gifts to third parties with a political position and/or strategic significance within the European Parliament".

A federal investigation had been launched in mid-July in Belgium into an alleged criminal organization, suspected of interfering in the politics of the European Union, on behalf of Qatar, revealed the Belgian daily Le Soir and the Flemish magazine Knack.

Read alsoQatargate: the European Parliament, an institution too naive in the face of corruption

Arrested on December 9, Eva Kaili was placed in detention and stripped of her post as vice-president.

The latter's companion, the Italian Francesco Giorgi, who is also Andrea Cozzolino's parliamentary assistant, the former Italian socialist MEP Pier-Antonio Panzeri, as well as an NGO official, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca , were also among those arrested.

These four personalities have been charged with "belonging to a criminal organization", "money laundering" and "corruption".

The investigation led by Belgian judge Michel Claise gave rise to twenty searches in Belgium between 9 and 12 December, including the premises of the European Parliament in Brussels.

Above all, the Belgian investigators got their hands on 1.5 million euros in cash, according to a judicial source, seized from the homes of Pier-Antonio Panzeri and Eva Kaili, as well as in a suitcase carried by the father of the latter.

Major reforms

Faced with mounting criticism, the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola announced the implementation of "wide-ranging" reforms from 2023, announcing in particular "the strengthening of the protection of whistleblowers" and "the prohibition of groups of 'unofficial friendship with third countries'.

Roberta Metsola will formally communicate the request for the waiver of immunity of the two defendants to the MEPs during their next plenary session, on January 16 in Strasbourg.

The Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) will then have to examine it, behind closed doors, and pronounce a proposal for a decision, which will ultimately be voted on by all MEPs in plenary.

The President of Parliament “has asked all the services and committees to give priority to this procedure, with a view to its conclusion on February 13”, specifies the press release.

As of December 13, the Belgian Socialist Party had decided to suspend Marc Tarabella from his membership.

And on December 16, the Italian Democratic Party announced that it would "preventively" suspend Andrea Cozzolino from its membership register, "until the closure of the ongoing investigations into the

scandal ", so as to "protect the image party ".