Anatomy of a scandal: How ‘Qatargate’ crisis shook EU to its core

It was a usually sleepy Friday evening at the European Union’s sprawling headquarters in Brussels. The thousands of diplomats, officials and politicians who flock to the Belgian capital during the week have long been on their way home for the weekend.

But in the steel and glass offices of the European Parliament in Place Luxembourg, a drama that is shaking the foundations of the bloc’s democracy was about to begin.

As dusk fell on 9 December, Belgian police and parliamentary security officers crept through the ancient corridors of the empty building, locking the rooms and offices. At the same time, detectives were preparing to launch a series of raids on houses and apartments across the capital.

In the hours that followed, six suspects were rounded up, including Eva Kaili, a glamorous 44-year-old Greek politician who, as a vice-president, was one of the highest-profile politicians in the European Parliament.

His accomplice and his former boss were also detained. In the following days at least 20 homes and offices were raided in Belgium, Italy and Greece, yielding €1.5 million in cash, as authorities seized computers and mobile phones as evidence. Police found €150,000 in notes in the apartment that Kelly shared with her partner, and in one of the more bizarre details, her father was caught carrying a suitcase full of cash when he was walking to the city center I just got out of the Sofitel Hotel.

Cali and his accomplices are now being held in prison cells in Belgium as the investigation continues. They are among four suspects held on preliminary charges of corruption and money laundering, According to official documents, it is suspected that he accepted payments in exchange for a bid to enter Qatar’s parliament, and perhaps Morocco,

While the details of the alleged crimes are still incomplete a week later, the case is astonished European Union at its core. It is the biggest corruption scandal to hit the European Union in almost a quarter century – and arguably the most serious. What is known so far has raised questions about the integrity of the democratic process underpinning the entire political machinery of the 27-nation bloc.

“European democracy is under attack,” European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said when she addressed her colleagues in a crisis session.

Brussels has not been so badly rocked by a corruption scandal since the mass resignation of Jacques Santer from the European Commission in 1999 amid allegations of fraud.

As Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday: “It is painful and we will have to work hard again to regain trust and confidence.”

Yet to a large extent the crisis is now outside the control of the EU.

is the colored shape of Michel Claes, the investigative judge prosecuting the case, on whose hands is the reputation of EU democracy. Abandoned as a child outside a bakery, Claes has become one of the most successful prosecutors of his generation.

Nicknamed “the Sheriff” for his refusal to give up, he has resulted in major cases of complex financial crime involving money laundering gangs, drug trafficking and tax evasion by bankers in Belgian football clubs. He now writes crime thrillers in his spare time.

waiting to happen

When the scandal broke out, there was a feeling that it was a crisis waiting to happen. Transparency campaigners have been warning about lax regulations and weak enforcement for years.

The European Parliament has long been a magnet for lobbyists and visiting dignitaries eager to make their voices heard in one of the EU’s centers of power. While Parliament is arguably the least influential of the EU’s institutions, its power has grown since it was given a new remit in 2009, and its 705 MPs now have the authority to shape legislation – usually in its final stages. in.

Perhaps more relevantly, Parliament provides a high-profile forum for public debate. Its chamber is a venue where lawmakers from the bloc’s 27 countries deliver speeches on behalf of causes close to their hearts, delivering a kudos that money shouldn’t be able to buy.

As the weeks passed, more details emerged about the alleged campaign of influence by Qatar, which denies any involvement in the scandal.

Kelly visited Qatar in early November, meeting with the country’s labor minister and others. Shortly thereafter in the European Parliament, he gave a rousing speech, hailing the World Cup host as a “pioneer in labor rights” and praising the country’s “historic transformation”. It was an unpopular idea with strong criticism from campaigners, who warned construction workers would be treated like slaves during the construction of football stadiums.

Questions quickly emerged about the role of NGOs. One has come under particularly intense scrutiny – fight impotence, a think tank led by Pier Antonio Panzeri. He is a former member of the European Parliament and a close associate of Cali’s partner, Francesco Giorgi. Both Panjri and Giorgi have been charged with corruption along with Cali and are in jail while the investigation continues.

The think tank was not listed on the official Transparency Register of lobbyists, but still managed to gain significant access through the Parliament’s subcommittee on human rights.

As the parliament assembled in Strasbourg for its final session of the year, the shock among its members was palpable. German MP Hannah Neumann said, “We are all standing in the middle of a crime scene, offices sealed, colleagues in prison facing accusations that at least one of us is involved in corruption and foreign has become the Trojan horse of intervention.” the feelings of many.

While technically the Qatar scandal involves only one of the EU’s institutions, the threat to the rest of the bloc’s political and policy-making machine is clear.

From a public relations perspective, the timing could hardly have been worse. On Thursday, European presidents and prime ministers gathered in Brussels for the EU’s final leaders’ summit of the year. Alleged corruption was not on the official agenda, but Qatargate, as it became known, dominated the meeting.

horror

As they entered the summit, the leaders were attacked by journalists, demanding to know what the EU would do to crack down on corruption. Presidents and prime ministers turned to each other when the doors closed and they were able to speak privately horror,

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged the group to forward their messages to the media, stressing the seriousness of the crisis. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said the problem threatened to poison the entire EU project, and Latvia’s Krishjanis Karins shared the fears.

The next European Parliament elections are due in 2024 and the worry for many in the Brussels establishment is that the scandal will turn euro-sceptics into hardened cynics and drive voters into the hands of anti-EU parties.

There has been a lot of talk of action during a dizzying week. metsola promised A new plan for the next year to strengthen ethics standards, including greater protections for whistleblowers and access to parliament, has been announced.

European Commission President von der Leyen pledged to speed up his plan for an overarching watchdog for the whole of the European Union. But that is something he proposed three years ago. Given the EU’s notoriously slow decision-making process, some people are holding their breath.

There is another reason why leaders of Europe’s giant trading bloc may be wary of reacting too quickly to the crisis. The European Union now increasingly relies on Qatar for vital supplies of gas.

European Council President Charles Michel attended the opening of the EU’s new embassy in Doha in September and spoke about the need to engage constructively with Qataris, particularly on the energy crisis triggered by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine In light of This week, Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Berlin wanted to keep gas supplies from Qatar despite the corruption scandal.

In the coming days, there will be more self-discovery as the criminal investigation continues. Kelly, who denies the allegations against him, is due to appear in court on December 22. According to local media, her boyfriend Giorgi has reportedly confessed in prison, telling prosecutors he took the money and begged the couple to be released so they could care for their child.

Whatever happens next in the Michel Claesz investigation, for one victim of the crisis – the EU’s battered credibility – it may already be too late.

Peter Hack, Camille Gijs, Barbara Moens, Jacopo Barigazzi and Tim Ross contributed reporting.