New twist in the so-called “Qatargate” affair. The European Parliament announced on Monday 2 January that it had launched an emergency procedure to lift the immunity of two MEPs following a request from the Belgian judicial authorities and as part of an investigation into corruption within the institution. 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), according to information from the Belgian media knock and The evening and Agence France-Presse, which relies on sources familiar with the matter.
“Corruption cannot pay and we will do everything to fight it”announced in a statement the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, assuring that the institution has done ” everything in its power to assist the ongoing investigations.” since ” the beginning “ of the case. “We will continue to ensure that there is no impunity. Officials will find this Parliament on the side of the law”added M.me Metsola.
Four people charged
In December, the Belgian media knock and The evening revealed that the Belgian public prosecutor’s office was investigating a possible case of corruption in the European Parliament, in which Qatar and Morocco would have approached MEPs with the aim of influencing the economic and political decisions of the institution.
Andrea Cozzolino and Marc Tarabella are both targeted as part of the investigation which led Belgian investigators to arrest the vice-president of the institution, the Greek socialist MEP Eva Kaili, on December 9. The latter’s companion, the Italian Francesco Giorgi, who is also Mr. Cozzolino’s parliamentary assistant, the former Italian Socialist MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, and an NGO official, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, were also among the people arrested.
These four personalities have been charged with “belonging to a criminal organization”, “money laundering” and “corruption”, in a scandal that has caused shock waves in the European Parliament and tensions between Qatar and the European Union . Mme Kaili did not benefit from his parliamentary immunity because the offense had been found in flagrante delicto, “bags of tickets” being discovered in his apartment. She was stripped of her title of Vice-President of the European Parliament on December 13 by an almost unanimous vote of MEPs.
Reform proposals
In Belgium, the investigation gave rise to twenty searches between December 9 and 12, including within the European Parliament. The home of Marc Tarabella had been searched on December 10 in this context, according to a judicial source.
In total, Belgian investigators got their hands on 1.5 million euros in cash, according to a judicial source, seized from the homes of Mr. Panzeri and Mr.me Kaili, as well as in a suitcase carried by her father.
Roberta Metsola will formally communicate the request for waiver of immunity to MEPs during their next plenary session, on January 16 in Strasbourg. The parliamentary committee on legal affairs will then have to examine it, behind closed doors, and pronounce a proposal for a decision, which will ultimately be voted on by all the MEPs in plenary.
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The President of Parliament “asked all services and commissions to give priority to this procedure, with a view to its conclusion on February 13”, the statement said. She also presents “reform proposals” which must be presented “in the coming weeks”, for “a review of the current rules and the improvement of internal systems, particularly in terms of control”.