It was a glowing speech that MEP Eva Kaili gave at the end of November in the main hall of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. All the negative reporting about migrant workers in Qatar, the social democrat told her colleagues, was very unjustified. The country, Kaili underlined, was actually a forerunner in the field of labor rights and an important global ‘peace negotiator’. “It concerns a new generation of intelligent, highly educated people,” said the Greek.
Last Friday, Kaili was arrested by the Belgian police. The suspicion includes bribery by Qatar, Belgian media quickly reported, the Gulf state where the World Cup is currently taking place. The Greek MEP, also Vice-President of the European Parliament, is the most prominent suspect in a corruption scandal that is shaking Brussels to its foundations these days. Alberto Alemanno, professor of law at HEC Paris, speaks of “the most shocking integrity scandal in the history of the EU”.
On Friday, the Belgian police carried out sixteen house searches in different neighborhoods in Brussels. Six people were arrested, 600,000 euros in cash were seized. Kaili is the only MEP arrested. However, a house search was carried out on Saturday evening at the home of Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella, also of the Social Democratic group. On Sunday, the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office announced that two people have been released and the other four are being prosecuted. Among them is Kaili.
Large sums of money
Much is still unclear about the precise suspicions: the Belgian public prosecutor officially only reported on Friday that an investigation has been underway for months into how “a Gulf state influences the economic and political decisions of the European Parliament”, including through the “payment of large sums of money or offering large gifts”. Belgian media Knack and Le Soir reported on the basis of sources to the judiciary that the investigation focuses in particular on the Italian Pier Antonio Panzeri. He was a Social Democratic MEP until 2019 and is currently head of his own NGO Fight Impunity, aimed at combating human rights violations. According to Italian media, his wife and daughter were also arrested in Italy on Friday.
There is a buzz in Brussels that the bribery may be related to a vote next week in which the European Parliament would rule on visa-free travel between Qatar and the EU. The vote has since been taken off the agenda in connection with the investigation.
The scandal is painful for the social democratic group, which also includes the PvdA, now that almost all suspects seem to have a link with that group. Kaili was expelled on Friday evening by her own Greek Socialist Party and the Social Democrats group in the European Parliament also immediately announced a suspension. PvdA MEP and vice-chairman of the social-democratic group Mohammed Chahim speaks of a “nightmare” in response. “It is absolutely unacceptable that this has happened. The only one whose interests we can take into account is the voter.”
One person can destroy the reputation of an entire EU institution: this shows how serious this matter is
At the same time, lobby watchers emphasize how the scandal also reveals something about the vulnerability of the European Parliament to influence. This is not an unknown problem: the EP consists of more than seven hundred people with a multitude of employees and assistants from different political cultures. The fear that there could easily be a weak link between them has been prevalent for some time.
ethical system
The revelations show, says Vitor Teixeira, “how broken the ethical system in the European Parliament is”. Texeira works for the NGO Transparency International and recently published a report about the lack of oversight of lobbying in the EP. According to him, a lack of rules means that too little attention is paid to the risks of influence. Plus: the rules that exist are poorly enforced and sanctions have never been handed out. “Lobbyists can freely enter the parliament building with a pass, but with whom they speak is completely unclear. At the start of their term, MEPs receive an email asking them to publish their meetings with lobbyists. But there is a total lack of monitoring of that.”
In addition, meetings with representatives of ‘third countries’ are exempt from lobbying rules: they are considered ‘diplomatic relations’. Texeira: „But if Qatar does this, you can assume: at least many more countries will try this. And that can be about much more serious matters.”
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For example, according to lobby watchers, the scandal is yet another alarm signal that the existing rules in Brussels are not sufficient. The revelation that former European Commissioner and VVD politician Neelie Kroes was lobbying against the rules for taxi company Uber was an illustration of this a few months ago. Transparency International, among others, has been calling for years for an independent ethics body that can investigate and impose punishments. Although the President of the European Commission promised to set up such a body when she took office, this has still not happened – to the dismay of lobby watchdogs and critical MEPs. Teixeira believes that the EP should now come up with a body itself if necessary. “This scandal shows that we can no longer wait. One person can now ruin the reputation of an entire EU institution – that really shows the seriousness of the matter.”