EU Parliament: Repair work after Kaili scandal

The shock is deep in the EU Parliament - even weeks after the corruption scandal surrounding then-Vice President Kaili became public What consequences are now being discussed? More transparency, tougher lobbying rules, stricter access restrictions: the EU Parliament is trying to repair what the corruption scandal destroyed with far-reaching reforms

The allegations are far from cleared up But the mere suspicion that current and former MEPs received bribes from Qatar or Morocco for political favors is a complete disaster for the European representatives

"These criminal activities damage democracy, they damage Europe and they damage everything we stand for," said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola just under a month ago " "Within a few moments" the trust that had built up over the years was destroyed - now it has to be restored

"And this work begins now " including Greek Social Democrat Eva Kaili, one of Metsola's deputies

As a consequence, the EU Parliament wants to further tighten its already comparatively strict regulations and introduce a registration obligation for all visitors And: MPs and their employees should make all meetings with representatives from third countries public in the future

Suggestion: Disclosing financial circumstances Anti-corruption organizations such as Transparency International and Lobby Control consider the plans of the President of Parliament to be the right step, which, however, should be followed by others Green MEP Daniel Freund agrees

For example, parliamentarians should disclose their financial circumstances at the beginning and end of the legislative period If you let yourself be bribed with "suitcases full of cash", it will be difficult to "start anything with this money and buy a holiday home or a sports car"

Freund is convinced that this would then come to light through the corresponding reports According to many MPs, part of the anti-corruption reforms should also be better protection for so-called whistleblowers, so that parliament insiders who point out grievances do not have to fear any professional disadvantages

Employees often get it when MPs behave illegally and "trick with the money" If they report corruption or abuse by their own boss, they need protection

"This is the only way such cases can often be dealt with so that they end up in court," says Freund Loss of pension rights? The group leader of the Christian Democrats, Manfred Weber, proposes that corrupt parliamentarians should also have their pension entitlements removed

The European socialists are also thinking about further reforms and are planning an internal investigation of the events, preferably by an independent body After all, all suspects currently come from the social democratic environment

Gabriele Bischoff from the German European SPD says her parliamentary group is "totally shaken" and that "a lot of trust has been lost " Now let's see how it could be "that such a network has established itself"

And where internal "warning mechanisms" are required to ensure that something like this cannot happen again Investigations not over yet In the meantime, the Belgian judicial authorities are pursuing their investigations and have applied for the waiver of the parliamentary immunity of two other MEPs

The two Social Democrats, one from Belgium and the other from Italy, deny being involved in the case The European Parliament wants to decide promptly on the applications of the public prosecutor's office and on Wednesday regulate the successor to the former Vice President Kaili, who is still in custody

The Luxembourger Marc Angel, who also belongs to the Socialist Group, is given the best chance of filling the prestigious post A trip with consequences And another parliamentary post has just become vacant: the Belgian socialist Marie Arena had to resign as chair of the Human Rights Committee because she had been invited by the Emirate of Qatar to a trip to the capital Doha last May without properly reporting the trip to Parliament to register

Although there is no official investigation against Arena, but she is said to be a close confidant of ex-Italian MP Pier-Antonio Panzeri And he is considered a key figure in this bribery scandal

More transparency, tougher lobbying rules, stricter access restrictions: the EU Parliament is trying to repair what the corruption scandal destroyed with far-reaching reforms The allegations are far from cleared up But the mere suspicion that current and former MEPs received bribes from Qatar or Morocco for political favors is a complete disaster for the European representatives "These criminal activities damage democracy, they damage Europe and they damage everything we stand for," said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola just under a month ago " "Within a few moments" the trust that had built up over the years was destroyed - now it has to be restored "And this work begins now " including Greek Social Democrat Eva Kaili, one of Metsola's deputies As a consequence, the EU Parliament wants to further tighten its already comparatively strict regulations and introduce a registration obligation for all visitors And: MPs and their employees should make all meetings with representatives from third countries public in the future Suggestion: Disclosing financial circumstances Anti-corruption organizations such as Transparency International and Lobby Control consider the plans of the President of Parliament to be the right step, which, however, should be followed by others Green MEP Daniel Freund agrees For example, parliamentarians should disclose their financial circumstances at the beginning and end of the legislative period If you let yourself be bribed with "suitcases full of cash", it will be difficult to "start anything with this money and buy a holiday home or a sports car" Freund is convinced that this would then come to light through the corresponding reports According to many MPs, part of the anti-corruption reforms should also be better protection for so-called whistleblowers, so that parliament insiders who point out grievances do not have to fear any professional disadvantages Employees often get it when MPs behave illegally and "trick with the money" If they report corruption or abuse by their own boss, they need protection "This is the only way such cases can often be dealt with so that they end up in court," says Freund Loss of pension rights?