Watchdogs say this could be the “most serious,” “most shocking,” “most egregious” corruption scandal in Brussels in years.
Five people were held on Friday in a series of at least 16 raids by Belgian federal police who said they had committed “alleged crimes of criminal organisation, corruption and money laundering”. Morning searches turned up €600,000 in cash, as well as phones and computers.
Initially, the perpetrators were not prominent names by Brussels standards: a former member of the European Parliament, some parliamentary assistants, and a trade union boss, all allegedly headed for World Cup host Qatar. But to what end, really? Some questioned whether — if the allegations were true — Doha had really made a smart investment.
However, by evening, it had become clear that this was not just a story of a few hoodlums and seekers lining their pockets. According to Belgian federal police, Eva Kelly, the vice-president of the European Parliament and a vocal defender of Doha, was taken into police custody. The case also centers around an NGO, which till recently counted some of the biggest luminaries of Left politics among its board members.
As this potentially hyperbolic scandal continues to unfold, POLITICO answers all your questions about the ongoing controversy in the EU capital.
Q: Who is Eva Kelly?
As one of parliament’s 14 deputy speakers, Kelli is one of the institution’s most powerful players – and one of Brussels’ most glamorous figures, with celebrity status in his native Greece as a former news presenter.
But Kelly has also emerged as one of Qatar’s most vocal defenders. He recentlypioneer in labor rights” Later meeting with the country’s labor minister despite deep international concerns about conditions for stadium construction workers. A member of the centre-left Socialist and Democrat (S&D) party, her portfolio includes special responsibilities relating to the Middle East.
Cali’s partner and co-guardian, Francesco Giorgi, has also been taken into custody, according to police and people with direct knowledge. He is an advisor on the Middle East and North Africa region in the European Parliament – and is the founder of Fight Impunity, an NGO which aims to promote “accountability as a central pillar of the architecture of international justice”.
Crucially, there is Pier Antonio Panzeri, president of Fight Impunity, a central figure in the matter.
Question: Who else is involved?
Panzeri, an Italian former S&D MEP, was among those arrested on Friday morning. By evening his wife and daughter were also caught by the Italian police. The warrant for his arrest, seen by Politico, accused Panzeri of “interfering politically with members of the European Parliament working for the benefit of Qatar and Morocco”.
Former parliamentary colleagues, especially those concerned with fighting with impunity, are also coming under scrutiny. In addition to arresting Giorgi, police also sealed the office of another parliamentary assistant who used to work for Fight Impunity, who is currently working as an aide to Belgian S&D MEP Marie Arena.
Arena, who inherited the chairmanship of the human rights subcommittee from Panzeri and works closely with Fight Impunity, confirmed that her colleague’s office was sealed. Arena said that the police did not question him himself.
According to Italian newswire Ansa, Nicolo Figa-Talamanca has also been taken into custody. He is the Director General of another NGO No Peace Without Justice. Focused on promoting international criminal justice, human rights, and democracy in the Middle East and North Africa, the organization is officially based in New York and Rome. However, it has the same Brussels address as Fight Impunity, at 21 rue Ducale.
Emma Bonino, a former Liberal MEP and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, founded No Peace Without Justice. He is listed as an honorary board member of Fight Impunity. She and Figa-Talamanca did not immediately respond to requests for comment through Peace Without Justice.
In a sign of Panzeri’s ties, former French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and former European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos are also listed as honorary board members. Cazeneuve could not be reached for comment Saturday; Avramopoulos did not respond to a request.
Another top name on Fight Impunity’s honorary board, former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, resigned from the board Saturday morning, according to a spokeswoman for the College of Europe, where Mogherini is now rector.
The list of employees on fight impunity has apparently been removed; Although, web archives Giorgi and other current parliamentary assistants will be shown key roles in January.
Question: Is it limited to the European Parliament?
No. Also detained: Luca Visentini, who just last month became secretary general of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Prior to this, he was the longtime head of the European Trade Union Confederation. (He didn’t have to move for the new role: both the global and European organizations are based at the same address on Rue Albert II in Brussels.)
Builders unions have been some of the top critics of Qatar’s record on workers’ rights in the lead-up to the World Cup. But even before Visentini took over, the ITUC was a notable exception, Former ITUC chief Sharan Baro urged outside critics of the country’s labor laws to “go and take a look at the change”. Video Posted by Qatari Ministry of Labor in June.
Q: Why would Qatar want to lobby?
The Gulf Emirates is hosting the World Cup, but rather than a public relations coup, the tournament turned out to shine a negative light on the country. Allegations of bribery in the bidding process and slave-like conditions for foreign workers cast doubt on the choice, and liberal critics seized on the moment to attack the conservative Muslim country’s position on women and LGBTQ+ rights.
Maintaining a good reputation is important, as Qatar works to hash out with EU countries for its natural gas. A proposal to grant visa-free travel to Qatar in the EU’s Schengen area is also moving forward in parliament – at least, it was.
Q: How has Kelly advocated for Qatar?
Kelly has arguably been the dean of the Doha Defenders (larger group) within S&D.
on 24 November, for example, as the plenary session passed a resolution “to mourn”[ing] death of thousands of migrant workers,” Kelly took to the floor to praise Qatar’s “historic change” brought about by the World Cup. appeared to vote in favor of visa liberalization for – even though she was not a member of the committee.
Kelly also singled out MEPs on a panel dedicated to the Middle East when she made her trip independent after Doha canceled the group’s visit. The Parliamentary Delegation for Relations with the Arabian Peninsula (DARP) was planning to visit Qatar just before the World Cup in November to tour tournament facilities and look into labor law changes.
With barely a month’s notice, Qatar’s consultative assembly, known as the Shura Council, asked for a postponement. Instead, Kelly went to Qatar the week the entire delegation was supposed to be there – and delivered hug praise For labor reforms in the Emirates. According to local pressShe said she was there representing 500 million European citizens who see the country’s progress as representing common values.
“She was somehow going behind my back,” said Hannah Neumann, the German Green MEP at the helm of the DARP. Doha was not “inviting the group that would have had a more balanced position” and “instead invited it, knowing that its statements would be less critical.”
Repeated calls to Callie’s mobile phone on Friday and Saturday went unanswered.
Q: How big a deal is this?
Watchdog groups agree on the exaggeration. Micheal van Holten, head of Transparency International, said the Qatar scandal could be the “biggest case” of alleged corruption that parliament has seen in years. Alberto Alemano, professor of law at the HEC Paris, called it “the most shocking integrity scandal in the history of the European Union”.
German Green MEP Daniel Freund, co-chair of the parliament’s anti-corruption intergroup, called it “one of the most serious corruption scandals in Brussels in recent decades”.
van holten Told Parliament has created a “culture of abeyance … with a combination of lax financial regulations and controls and a complete lack of independent (or indeed any) ethics oversight.” Alemano similarly predicted that it would be “the tip of the iceberg”, hoping that the pile-up of scandals would generate political momentum for an independent ethics system.
> What are people saying what can be done about it?
The Commission is due to propose an independent ethics body that would apply to all EU institutions, but it would be almost certainly will not come with investigative or enforcement power,
Freund argued that countries that are not part of the EU should follow the “relatively sound lobbying rules already in place” in Brussels. At the moment, countries are not required to register on the EU’s Transparency Register of Interest Groups, for example, and MEPs are not required to report those contacts. “The European Union must reform this immediately,” Freund said.
Incidentally, Panjeri’s NGO, Fight Impunity, is not listed in the transparency register. This is a clear breach of existing rules for EU-based groups who want to make their case in Parliament. Under the latest Transparency Register guidelines, NGOs are required to include comprehensive details about their funding.
Arena, the current chair of the human rights subcommittee, has worked closely with Panjeri and Fight Impunity, an NGO also involved. Press conferences And of travel With Panjeri to discuss civil liberties.
Even as he defends his freedom, Arena predicts more revelations will emerge. “If Qatar is doing it, I know other people are doing it,” Arena said. “And so we really have to block out this kind of ability to influence.”
Q: How is it going for Qatar now?
The blowback from these allegations is now being felt fast.
S&D calls for visa liberalization proposal to be put on hold and green reporter called in Told He would vote against the measure if it comes up for a vote next week.
Separately, Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee plans to visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the coming weeks. Now the latter part has been canceled – meaning Doha’s top rival gets all the attention.
Qatar’s mission to the European Union did not respond to a request for comment.
Question: What next in Parliament?
Cali has already been suspended from S&D Group and his house party in Greece, Pasok.
When parliament meets in full session on Monday, Parliament Speaker Roberta Metsola will be under pressure to end Kelly’s duties as vice president, and MEPs are likely to revoke her parliamentary immunity. the left has already formally arrived called for debate The event is to be added to the agenda, which is to be voted on on Monday evening.
Eddy Wax, Nektaria Stamouli, Hannah Roberts and Vincent Manancourt contributed reporting.