EU Parliament: President Roberta Metsola reported 125 gifts too late

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Roberta Metsola

Photo: JULIEN WARNAND / EPA

Roberta Metsola is trying to present herself as a determined fighter for integrity and transparency in the corruption scandal in the European Parliament.

But now it turns out that the Maltese conservatives have not always been particularly precise with their own rules.

According to a list published on Parliament's website, Metsola has accepted 142 gifts since the beginning of last year.

She received 125 of them between the beginning of February and the end of November - and thus broke the rules of parliament 125 times.

Because these state that MPs must report the receipt of a gift by the end of the following month at the latest, as a spokesman for the parliament confirmed to SPIEGEL.

He also stressed that Metsola does not keep the gifts, but that they are kept in Parliament.

Wrapped dates with gilded decoration

The gifts reported by Metsola are mainly small items such as scarves, vases and books.

Only one should be worth more than 150 euros, which Metsola should therefore not have accepted according to the statutes of the parliament.

However, the value was not immediately apparent either: it is a box with wrapped dates and gilded decoration that Metsola received in February 2022 from Abdullah Bin Zayed, the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates.

The list also suggests that most MPs are not particularly keen on reporting gifts.

While Metsola reported 149 alone, the other 704 deputies reported a total of 53 gifts.

Also noteworthy: 51 of them were reported by the German MPs Nicola Beer (FDP), Hannah Neumann and Sergey Lagodinsky (both Greens), as well as David McAllister, Daniel Caspary and Michael Gahler (all CDU).

Only two went to politicians from other countries.

The EU Parliament is still struggling with the consequences of the corruption scandal, which began in early December with raids, six arrests and the confiscation of around 1.5 million euros in cash.

Among those in custody is Eva Kaili, who lost her position as Vice President of Parliament as a result of the scandal.

Metsola presented a 14-point plan just this week, which should ensure more transparency in parliament in the future.