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In February 2020, Eva Kelli, the high-flying vice-president of the European Parliament, was on stage at the five-star Ritz Carlton hotel in Doha, the capital of Qatar, discussing social media giants and democracy.
“We always see attempts at political interference between member states, even in Europe,” she said, turning to her co-panellists. Callie looked down at her notes. “How do you feel in this country and [its] role in the stability of the entire region?” He asked.
Former EU Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos replied, “The country that is hosting us today has made great progress during the past years.”
This part of the conversation from the two-day conference must not have gone unnoticed at that time. But heard today, the praise is full of irony. Cali is in prison, swept up in a high-octane corruption scandal gripping the EU establishment in Brussels, in which Qatar – and also Morocco – are accused of paying EU lawmakers to influence the work of parliament.
The convention didn’t come out of the blue. The seeds were planted some two years ago, when then Member of Parliament Pier Antonio Panzeri, the alleged ringleader of the corruption plot, signed a semi-official cooperation agreement with an organization linked to the Qatari government. POLITICO now has access to the document after earlier Reporting on its existence last month.
The treaty, which Panjeri signed as head of parliament’s human rights subcommittee, linked the EU body to Qatar’s own human rights commission. It pledged “closer cooperation” between the two sides, mentioning annual “projects” and the exchange of “experiences and expertise”. The language laid the groundwork for years of cooperation, including conference and legislator visits to Doha, with Qatar covering business class flights and luxury hotel stays.
Notably, however, according to Parliament, the agreement does not officially exist. The memorandum never went to lawmakers for review—despite what Panzeri says—nor did it go through any formal means of approval.
“The European Parliament has no official knowledge of the document you refer to,” an official at Parliament Press Services told POLITICO.
Yet the document exists, showing how a foreign country was able to establish substantial ties to EU parliamentarians and a European Parliament committee without raising formal alarm bells in the institution.
“It is problematic,” said Monika Hohlmeier, a senior MEP from the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), who leads the budgetary control committee. “It shows that we need to be more aware of what is happening.”
“It’s extraordinary,” exclaimed Someone with knowledge of the actions of the Human Rights Committee (known as DROI).
Qatar has consistently stated that it rejects any allegations of undue interference in the work of the EU.
Signature
Panjeri signed the deal with Ali bin Samikh Al Marri, who chaired Qatar’s National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), during the DROI committee meeting in Brussels on April 26, 2018. NHRC says on its own Website that it enjoys “complete independence” from the government of Qatar.
Addressing a handful of MEPs to a largely empty room, Al Marri argued that the Qatari government had made “tremendous progress” on human rights reforms, although also admitted that it was not yet enough. He slammed Saudi Arabia and other Gulf neighbors for imposing “mass sanctions” amid a diplomatic standoff, resulting in “human rights violations”.
At the end of the hour-long committee meeting, Panzeri made a brief reference to the “consultation and cooperation document that we will sign today and that we will provide to the members of the DROI subcommittee.”
But he did not receive it.
“It never happened,” said Petras Ostrevičius, a Lithuanian liberal MEP who led his group’s work on human rights at the time. Two former MEPs with co-ordinating roles on the committee, Barbara Lochbihler and Marie-Christine Vergiat, also said they had no recollection of such an agreement.
Auštrevičius said that the decision to invite Al Marri to address the committee that day had also not been signed by fellow MEPs in line with normal practice.
“It seems that the president [Panzeri] decided to invite [Al Marri] After a recent personal visit to Qatar, which I was not aware of,” Ostrevicius said.
Indeed, on the day the agreement was signed, Panzeri was back in Brussels fresh after a trip to Qatar with his parliamentary assistant, Francesco Giorgi.
On the go, Panzeri met The then Qatari Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, his human rights counterpart almariAnd Praised Qatar’s labor reform ahead of the soccer World Cup, according to a media report retweeted by Panzeri.
Al Marri would later become Qatar’s minister of labour, as global criticism came over Doha’s treatment of migrant workers building World Cup stadiums.
Penzeri’s assistant Giorgi would later be detained by the authorities in the initial stages of the arrest, along with his boss and Cali. All three were charged with corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization.
Panjeri has now made a plea deal With prosecutors, admitting to bribing MEPs in exchange for a reduced sentence. Callie and Giorgi, who are partners, deny any wrongdoing. Lawyers for Panjeri and Cali did not respond to a request for comment.
Nearly five years later, officials in Parliament are scratching their heads over how such a deal could have been signed. Even the signature itself is shrouded in mystery.
According to the press services of the parliament, the deal was signed in Panjeri’s office. But a photo of the signing shows an EU Parliament staff member as well as the official EU and Qatar flags. And a second person familiar with the committee’s work said the signing took place in one of parliament’s official protocol rooms, which are typically used by foreign delegations.
The text of the deal itself is vague and jargon.
“It has been decided to continue bilateral activity through an understanding of consultation and cooperation between the two sides,” it read on one side of the A4 paper.
“This understanding,” it further says, “aims to promote closer cooperation, exchange of bilateral expertise, information and contacts with respect to human rights to regulate and facilitate relations between the NHRC and the DROI.”
Panjeri’s ‘delegation’ in Doha
In 2019, a year after reaching “this understanding”, Qatar co-hosted its first conference In partnership with the Parliament in Doha, or at least with the Parliament’s logo plastered on it. Subject: Fighting with impunity.
At the conference, Panjeri praised Qatar as a “reference” point for global human rights standards. An article in Gulf Times Quoted Panjeri said the conference was a direct result of their 2019 deal. Later, “Fighting Abhaydan” became the nameless cause of Panjeri’s NGO.
Then came the 2020 summit, which was held in Doha on 16 and 17 February and apparently co-organised with the European Parliament. New topic: “Social media, challenges and ways to promote freedom and protect activists.”
The Parliament Press Services official denied co-organising the event, saying, “It was not the organization’s event, but we still have to investigate how they could use the logo.” [of the Parliament],
The 300 attendees had business class flights paid for by Qataris, as well as accommodation at the Ritz Carlton Hotel and dinner at the National Museum of Qatar to end the conference.
Kelly was far from the only top EU politician there.
As she completed her officiating duties, Kelly thanked Panzeri for “really organizing this delegation”.
Panzeri – who left parliament in 2019 – sat in the front row next to his now-detained assistant, Giorgi.
Also present was Socialist and Democrat (S&D) MP Mark Tarabella, who was arrested last week as police expanded their investigation. Belgian prosecutors suspect that Tarabella received up to €140,000 in cash from Panzeri to influence EU work on Qatar.
Tarabella’s lawyer, Maxime Toller, denied that Panzeri had organized the trip: “It is not Mr. Panzeri. … well, he was on a trip.
Tarabella failed to disclose the concessional travel until last month ahead of a parliament deadline. Tarabella made several excuses for the late announcement, including that he felt it was no longer possible. Broadly speaking, he has declared his innocence in the corruption investigation.
Two other EU MPs present at the event – S&D member Alessandra Moretti and EPP member Cristian-Silvu Busoi – also failed to announce their subsidized attendance until the corruption investigation unfolded.
“It was an event sponsored by the European Parliament, so the Parliament was aware of the event and my involvement,” Moretti said. “In the spirit of complete transparency, I have decided to publish this.” He denied being part of the Panjeri-led delegation.
Busoi, who led Parliament’s informal “friendship group” with Qatar said: “The 2020 event was announced later due to a staff error.” He also denied being part of any panzeri-orchestrated delegation.
After Panzeri left parliament in 2019, S&D MP Maria Arena replaced her on the DROI committee. in January, he Said Politico said he did not continue with Panzeri’s agreement.
However, the conferences continued.
In addition to the 2020 event, Arena later traveled to Qatar for the NHRC workshop in 2022 on Doha time. he finally stepped down Arena, as chairman of the committee, failed to announce subsidized travel in time after Politico revealed it. The Arena did not respond to a request for comment for this piece.
And for all the confusion surrounding the deal, one thing is clear: For Qatar, it never ceased to exist.
“The relationship with the European Parliament is extremely important to us,” Al Marri wrote to two EU MPs including Arena in May 2021.
Proof of this? “The memorandum of understanding we signed with the Human Rights Subcommittee.”
Elena Giordano, Camille Gijs and Nektaria Stamouli contributed reporting.