Another Qatar inconsistency
Two MEPs are set to lose immunity
01/16/2023, 8:09 p.m
The immunity of a Belgian and an Italian MEP is to be lifted in the wake of the corruption scandal involving former Vice President Kaili. Other MPs are threatened with the same thing – but for different reasons.
In the course of the corruption scandal surrounding the former Vice President of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, the immunity of two MEPs is to be lifted. It is about the Belgian MP Marc Tarabella and the Italian Andrea Cozzolino, as the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola announced in Strasbourg. In addition, the immunity of two other MPs is to be lifted – but this is not directly related to the corruption scandal.
Marc Tarabella is a member of the delegation for relations with the Arabian Peninsula.
(Photo: IMAGO/Le Pictorium)
Tarabella’s lawyer told RTL in Belgium on Sunday that the deputy had not properly reported a trip to Qatar. But his client did nothing illegal. Qatar bore the cost of the trip, as reported by the Belga news agency, among others. According to the lawyer, four other MPs did not report the trip either.
Also suspected other cases of fraud in view
The planned lifting of the immunity of the other two MEPs at the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is not directly related to the corruption scandal. Rather, it is about alleged fraud with a view to allowances for parliamentary assistants. Kaili is also affected here. The second MP is about the Greek Christian Democrat Maria Spyraki (Nea Demokratia). Spyraki had already announced in December that she had nothing to do with the “Qatar Gate” or any other case. It is about the remuneration of an ex-assistant of hers “who had a serious personal problem”.
Before the relatively new European Public Prosecutor’s Office can apply for the immunity of those affected to be lifted in these two cases, Parliament’s Rules of Procedure must be amended – probably on Tuesday tomorrow. So far, for example, only authorities in EU countries could do this. The Belgian public prosecutor’s office was responsible for the corruption affair, so the rules of procedure do not need to be changed in this case.
In the next step, the legal committee of the parliament has to deal with the two cases. After the committee makes a recommendation, Parliament then votes on lifting the immunities. This is scheduled for February.