Perhaps MEP Marko Tarabella was most sorry. The Belgian socialist has been in custody for several weeks on charges of accepting bribes. And to this reality was added at the beginning of April the expulsion from the popular Beer Club – on the grounds of the European Parliament, it presents breweries from all over the world. Tarabella, a citizen of the beer powerhouse, had to sigh.
The Belgian politician is one of the current or former MEPs and their associates caught up in the Qatargate scandal. The most famous name today is the former deputy speaker of the parliament, Eva Kailiová, who, like Tarabella, was arrested by the police. The central point of the affair is the governments of Qatar, Morocco and also Iran, which were supposed to try to influence the vote of the deputies in their favor with money, gifts and paid trips.
The scandal broke out last December, and one act should culminate before long. MEPs will vote on new rules in the parliament, which aim to minimize the repetition of similar affairs.
According to Belgian investigators, the head of the corruption octopus was Antonio Panzeri, who, due to his position as a former MEP, had free access to the parliament even after the expiration of his mandate. The Italian politician led the non-governmental organization, with which he bypassed former colleagues in Brussels, including Tarabella and Kaili, and through which hundreds of thousands of euros flowed from Qatar and Morocco into the pockets of MEPs.
In mid-April, the European Parliament will approve a fourteen-point plan proposed by its president, Roberta Metsola, which should make it more difficult for outsiders to enter the parliament. And to subject the MPs themselves to a more rigorous recognition of colors – to report to a publicly accessible register which lobbyist they met, who invited them to lunch or paid for their trip across the ocean.
One of the most discussed points was the so-called friendship groups, informal parliamentary groups of friends. There are less than twenty of them on the floor of the parliament and their operation is not subject to any rules. Among them is the aforementioned Beer Club. They usually function as discussion groups.
Until recently, there was an informal group of friends of Qatar, but it was canceled after the scandal broke out. According to investigators, it was the cloak of this platform that became the meeting place for Qatari and other diplomats with MEPs – and also with Panzeri – without the legislators having to admit it in any way. In the case of membership in official delegations of the European Parliament, such meetings are reported and recorded. Therefore, more can be seen in them.
“The majority of the leadership of the European Parliament wanted to completely ban informal groups during our debates in response to Qatargate,” long-time MEP and current deputy chairwoman Dita Charanzová (for ANO) told the Aktuálně.cz server.
“But then Taiwan jumped out at us, whose independence from China is not officially recognized by the parliament,” continues Charanzová. “Therefore, the informal group of friends of Taiwan is the only way for us to maintain a common platform that makes sense.”
According to her, there will be a debate about friend groups. The current proposal is that it will be abolished at least for those countries where there is already an official parliamentary delegation.
The uncrowned Czech king of friend groups is the People’s MEP Tomáš Zdechovský. He attends a number of them and presides over three of them. Specifically to a group of friends of Bahrain, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
“I’m interested in security and informal groups are a way to learn unique information directly from the field,” explains Zdechovský. “Bahrain is an intelligence hub, from where we know everything about Islamic State fighters.”
The fate of Zdechovský’s groups will be discussed, because there is already, for example, an official parliamentary delegation for the Gulf countries, including Bahrain. The MP himself is against their cancellation. “Let clear rules be introduced for them and all meetings are acknowledged. But it would be a shame to cancel them, when we already have contacts in those countries,” he says.
According to himself, he has no problem with personal integrity when “his” countries are debated on the floor of the European Parliament. “Eva Kailiová went to the deputies with amendments directly from Qatar. Am I such a fool to act in the same way with Bahrain, for example?” mentions Zdechovský. “I have a security clearance and I don’t want to lose it. I know how to behave,” he adds.
Zdechovský also flies to these regions most frequently among the Czech MEPs on official trips. Deputies have a budget of less than five thousand euros per year for this, and many of them, including Zdechovský, sometimes have the state pay a part of it. If they report it, it’s within the rules.
Part of the leadership of the parliament wanted to make it impossible for MPs to travel paid for by a third country in response to Qatargate, but the majority did not agree, referring to the limited budget. “Travels paid for by a third party will probably still be possible. They will just have to report really consistently,” confirms Vice-President Charanzová.
Air tickets paid for by Qatar at the time of the negotiation of the contract between the EU and Qatar Airways stood in the place of a senior European Commission official responsible for transport policy in March. He, too, acted in accordance with the rules when he announced the trips. Nevertheless, he could not bear the criticism about the conflict of interest and resigned.
