Calls For 'Root & Branch Reform' in EU Parliament After Arrests Over Claims of Corruption

It was reported on December 9 that Belgian authorities had carried out several arrests and searches in Brussels in connection with an investigation into allegations of corruption in the European Parliament linked with the holding of the World Cup in Qatar.

The European Union parliament has been accused of cultivating a "culture of impunity" as calls grow for an in-depth corruption inquiry and tighter controls over MEPs.

After European Parliament Vice-President, Greek politician Eva Kaili, was detained on Friday along with four other individuals amid a probe into possible bribery, Transparency International slammed what it insisted was not an “isolated incident”.

“Over many decades, the Parliament has allowed a culture of impunity to develop, with a combination of lax financial rules and controls and a complete lack of independent (or indeed any) ethics oversight. In many ways it has become a law unto itself," Michiel van Hulten, Director of Transparency International EU, stated.

He added that attempts to "improve accountability" had been blocked by the Parliament’s ruling Bureau.

"It is time for root and branch reform. As a first step, the European Commission should now publish its long-delayed proposal on the creation of an independent EU ethics body, with powers of investigation and enforcement,” the anti-corruption campaigning group concluded.

The the Greens/EFA in the European Parliament demanded a full investigation, tweeting that they would not "accept business as usual." According to the group, time to overhaul the rules was long overdue.

Eva Kaili, a member of the European Parliament, representing the Panhellenic Socialist Movement

CC BY-SA 2.0 / Pablo Garrigos / Euranet_plus / Eva KAILI

Greek socialist MEP Eva Kaili, 44, was arrested on December 9 in Brussels after four other people had reportedly been detained for questioning. Her partner, Francesco Giorgi, a parliamentary assistant with the European Parliament’s Socialists and Democrats group was also said to have been taken in for questioning in connection with a corruption case. Kaili has since been expelled from the PASOK-KINAL (Panhellenic Socialist Movement — Movement for Change) party. Another one believed to be implicated is ex-Italian MEP Pier-Antonio Panzeri.

According to Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office, cited by media reports, the probe concerns “corruption” and “money laundering” in connection with a "Gulf country" suspected of swaying the "economic and political decisions of the European parliament” via cash payments or gifts to top officials.

Earlier, a swathe of raids took place at 16 addresses in Brussels.

“Today’s searches have enabled investigators to recover about €600,000 in cash. Computer equipment and mobile phones were also seized. These elements will be analysed as part of the investigations,” the prosecutors said in a statement.

Some Belgian press reports suggested the country in question was Qatar, and the probe was ostensibly linked with the holding of the World Cup in that Gulf state.

Ever since the tiny Arab nation of 2.9 million people won the right to host the Arab world's first-ever football World Cup, it was forced to face a wave of criticism over many things: from its track record on LGBTQ+ and women’s rights to its treatment of foreign workers, including from India and Nepal.

Ahead of the tournament, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani termed the western media campaign as "slanderous," "fabricated," and "full of double standards."