The European Parliament wants to suspend access to Qatari representatives to the institution until the judicial investigation into the alleged bribery scheme to gain political and economic weight in Europe, which would have bought one of the vice presidents of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, suspended from office on Tuesday, is resolved.
In a draft resolution focused on suspicions of corruption in Qatar and the need to expand transparency and accountability in European institutions, which has been accessed by Europa Press, the political groups of the European Parliament denounce the attempts of Qatar to influence MEPs, former MEPs and staff of the European Parliament The text, which will be voted on Thursday and has been agreed by the entire parliamentary arc, calls for the suspension of access to the European Parliament to Qatari representatives until the judicial investigation clarifies the alleged plot and that all work on legislative files related to Qatar, in particular in relation to visa liberalization and planned visits is paralyzed.
Among other measures to improve transparency, MEPs point to the need to extend the EU transparency register to representatives of third countries, in addition to strengthening the mechanism, in terms of budget and staff, so that it can more thoroughly verify the information provided by registrants.
This resolution responds to the corruption scheme uncovered by alleged bribes from Qatar to MEPs and staff of the European Parliament and that affects, so far, Kaili and the former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, there are also two other people arrested and the Belgian police seized 500,000 euros in cash in home searches.
This Tuesday, the European Parliament held an emergency parliamentary debate to address the alleged bribery scandal just hours after Eva Kaili’s dismissal. During which Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson argued that there should be «zero tolerance» for corruption and called for the institutions to support investigations, for the guilty to be brought to justice and for politicians to «banish corruption wherever it is».
