The European Parliament was rocked this weekend by a major corruption scandal. Earlier this year there was also a scandal in the European Commission. There is a growing demand for new rules on lobbying in Europe. VVD MEP Bart Groothuis speaks of a shameful situation.
“The only debate we had today was about this,” he says. “It’s not so disturbing – as the head of Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell says – but really embarrassing. It shouldn’t happen that foreign countries influence our democratic processes. In Europe in particular, we are working a lot to prevent such things, a committee has even been set up for this. It’s a shame and we have to deal with it quickly.’
Groothuis, who worked extensively with Eva Kaili, now suspected of corruption, herself was unaware of the situation. ‘Kaili is also a skilled MP who has mainly dealt with digital files. But what we see is that there was a friendship group in parliament,” she continues. ‘We want to get rid of them. This way countries can get too close. We need to be able to decide for ourselves here, and that’s a lot of work to do.’
Remarkable
He admits that it was surprising when Kaili said in the plenary that Qatar was a pioneer in the field of labor law. “I was shocked when I actually heard that,” she continues. And I wasn’t alone. There were two groups; the first was a group of Central and Eastern Europeans who argued that Qatar was a good ally for Ukraine. So it had to be handled with care. On the other hand, you had a line of defense from southern Europeans, who said Qatar was doing good things with labor law. I was amazed by both of them.’
“not isolated”
According to Michiel van Hulten, director of EU Transparency International in Brussels, this is not an isolated incident. “I’ve never experienced a scandal of this magnitude, so it’s unique in that sense,” he says. ‘I have seen a lot in Brussels in recent years, but not that people have been bribed with large sums of money. We don’t know if it has already happened, but we are afraid of it.’
According to Van Hulten, there is therefore the possibility that MPs and employees are ‘receptive’ to being bribed by actors such as Qatar. “And what we do know is that the European Parliament has rules on lobbying and integrity, but these rules are nowhere near good enough and there is almost no enforcement of them.”
He concludes: “When people are caught, there are no penalties either. So the parliament must put its hand in the bosom, because they themselves have allowed the emergence of a culture in which approaching politicians in this way has become possible’.
Source: BNR
Fernando Dowling is an author and political journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. He has a deep understanding of the political landscape and a passion for analyzing the latest political trends and news.
