The European Commission on Tuesday called for zero tolerance against the alleged Qatar bribery scheme to gain political and economic weight in the European Parliament, after ensuring that «the full weight of the law» must fall against those involved to regain the confidence of citizens in the institutions and the European project.
In an emergency parliamentary debate to address the scandal involving the former vice president of the European Parliament, the Greek Socialist Eva Kaili, just hours after being dismissed by the institution, the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, stressed that the allegations are «extremely serious» and insisted that the institutions must now support the investigations, that the culprits are brought to justice and that politicians «banish corruption wherever it is».
«The fight against corruption is critical for the EU and to do that we must first get our house in order. Our standards must be the highest, it is what we expect from others and we must set them ourselves,» he defended in front of MEPs.
At least 500,000 euros in cash have been found by the Belgian police in about 20 searches of homes including that of Kaili and former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri. In addition, the offices of several MEPs and parliamentary assistants were searched at the European Parliament’s headquarters in Brussels.
In view of this scandal, the Swedish commissioner has called to «learn the hard lessons» and «take responsibility», pointing to the implementation of more control mechanisms, more accountability and harmonize rules to fight corruption. Thus, she said that in 2023 she will present a law to criminalize «all forms of corruption» in the Union, in addition to bribery, as in this case, Johansson has focused on cases of illicit enrichment, abuse of power and influence peddling.
In his opinion, bringing down «the full weight of the law» against those involved in the scheme is the only way to restore citizens’ confidence in the European institutions, recognizing that this case damages the European project.
«Shame on those who took bribes. For violating the trust of people in Europe who expect them to fight for their interests nor for their own and for violating the trust of colleagues who work with honor and decency,» Johansson has criticized.
SOCIALISTS CALL FOR «THE WHOLE TRUTH TO BE KNOWN».
During the debate, several parliamentarians have expressed their condemnation of the corruption case that has hit the interior of the institution, such as the president of the Socialists in the European Parliament, Iratxe García, who has defended that the mechanisms of the rule of law have worked and that is why the investigation is underway, asking that now «the full weight of the law falls» against Kaili and those involved.
The leader of the formation affected by the episode has insisted that the criminal process moves forward and «the whole truth» about the case is «known,» insisting that it will support concrete measures such as a commission of inquiry into the corrupt plot in Qatar, as well as measures such as extending the registration of ‘lobbies’ to third countries. All in order to demonstrate that the institution «is transparent» and an episode like this «cannot happen again».
The leader of PASOK and MEP, Nikos Androulakis, also spoke, showing his commitment to transparency and distancing his party from Kaili. «We do not all act the same and we must make it clear,» he said, calling for measures such as a record on the income of MEPs.
Among the Spanish parliamentarians, Adrián Vázquez, from Ciudadanos, has warned that all the members of the plot will be arrested and «will pay for it sooner or later». «Here the rule of law works and a few bad apples are not going to rot the rest,» he reiterated.
For Ernest Urtasun, of En Comú, this case generates disaffection of the citizenship on politics and has warned that the crisis «cannot be closed falsely». «If the vice-presidency is replaced and nothing else is done, it would be a huge mistake,» he said, calling for a «profound reform of the rules of transparency» of the European Parliament.
For her part, the ERC representative Diana Riba has shown her «disgust» for the case and has demanded to be «implacable» against the plot, demanding the prohibition of donations from third countries as well as the creation of an independent ethical body and a commission of inquiry in the European Parliament on the matter.
Meanwhile, the deputy of the BNG, Ana Miranda, has denounced the attempts of interference of Qatar, Morocco or Turkey in European politics and has regretted that the Spanish PP has not participated in the debate against corruption, after making a mention to the Gürtel plot that splashed the stage of Mariano Rajoy.
