New allegations of fraud involving EU budget funds have been leveled against former EU Vice President Eva Kaili. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday requested that the immunity of Kaili and her Greek colleague Maria Spyraki, both MEPs, be waived. According to the public prosecutor’s office, this concerns the suspicion of “fraud to the detriment of the EU budget”.
The suspicion relates to the remuneration of parliamentary staff. There is a suspicion of fraud against the EU budget, the Luxembourg-based authority announced on Thursday. It concerns the “management of parliamentary remuneration and, in particular, the remuneration of accredited parliamentary assistants”. The basis for the suspicion is an investigative report from the EU anti-fraud authority OLAF.
Bribes from Morocco and Qatar
In the EU corruption scandal, the partner of the deposed Vice President of the European Parliament, Kaili, had previously confessed. The Italian Francesco Giorgi has admitted to detectives that he has taken black money, reports the Roman daily La Repubblica. Giorgi admitted to being part of an organization used by Morocco and Qatar to interfere and influence European affairs, the Italian newspaper reported. His job was to manage cash.
According to the paper, Giorgi has also hinted that he suspects Andrea Cozzolino and Marc Tarabella, both S&D MEPs in the European Parliament, of taking money through former Italian MEP Antonio Panzeri. Morocco is said to be involved in suspected bribery through its external information service DGED. The documents that the two newspapers have seen show that Panzeri, Cozzolino and Giorgi had contact with the DGED and the Moroccan ambassador to Poland.
In response to the scandal, Parliament Speaker Metsola announced that she wanted to make the fight against corruption a top priority. In the new year there will be a comprehensive reform package against corruption in the EU parliament. “I will personally direct this work,” Metsola said. Among other things, stricter rules should be introduced for organizations and members of third countries who want to meet parliamentarians. Better protection for whistleblowers was also announced.
‘Nothing is swept under the carpet’
“There will be no impunity. Nothing will be swept under the carpet. There will be no business as usual,” the Maltese stressed. The allegations are a blow to everything that has been worked on for years. just a moment to destroy it,” said Metsola. However, the top politician did not rule out that similar scandals could occur in the future. “But I will make sure that everything is done to ensure that Parliament is not for sale “, she said.
The EU parliament wants to expand the lobby register and stop all work on Qatar. This applies in particular to the actual planned visa liberalisation, but also to planned visits. The entry badges for Gulf Emirates representatives will be deactivated. In addition, the parliamentarians spoke in favor of an asset declaration at the beginning and end of each mandate. They pledged to guarantee full transparency on the exact amount of their allowances and to prohibit external funding of their staff and political groups. A commission of inquiry will be set up after the criminal investigation into the alleged bribery case.
MEPs also called for new measures for lobbyists. In the future, the transparency rules will also apply to non-EU countries. More money and staff will be allocated to the lobby register – the database in which interest representatives can register – in order to better check the information contained therein. In addition, the parliamentarians spoke out in favor of an early proposal from the European Commission for an ethics committee. The resolution was adopted by 541 votes in favour, two against and three abstentions.
Source: Krone
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