Two years after Qatargate, Parliament is still split over reformin its ethics checks.
For the second time in as many years, the European Parliament is embroiled in a major corruption scandal. But its politicians are still divided on how to stop it from happening.
Belgian authorities sealed two offices in the Parliament on Thursday as part of a broader bribery probe into Chinese technology giant Huawei’s lobbying activities in Europe. The operation prompted flashbacks to the 2022 Qatargate scandal, when the Gulf state was accused of having sought to influence parliamentarians through bribes and gifts.
Qatargate triggered plans from the EU’s top leaders to crack down on corruption and shady lobbying practices. But a block of right-wing lawmakers — including from the political group of European Parliament President Roberta Metsola — have held back the creation of a common ethics body that could hold lawmakers accountable.
On Thursday, calls to unblock the much-needed reforms sounded louder than ever.
“These developments highlight the critical need for robust oversight and accountability,” said Victor Negrescu, Parliament’s vice president for transparency and anti-corruption and Romanian social-democrat member.
Dutch liberal member Bart Groothuis said the institution had to “demonstrate we have learned from Qatargate … so no ifs or buts, but clear and forceful measures should be taken.”
Parliament’s right-wing majority, led by the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), has slowed down the implementation of a common ethics body since the start of the new term. The EPP is the chamber’s largest political group and counts Metsola as a member. It also includes Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s party among its members.
The EPP has long opposed the body’s creation; it argues the body could become an unchecked disciplinary chamber for lawmakers. The group has slowed down the nomination of the body’s experts and, two weeks ago, it voted alongside far-right parties to axe the €110,000 allocated to the body.
And yet, it was Metsola herself who promoted the idea in the wake of the Qatargate scandal last mandate. The ethics body was part of a 14-point reform plan launched by the Maltese Parliament president in 2023 that also included raising awareness around transparency obligations and conflicts of interest issues, and whistleblowing training.
Metsola “has failed to take the necessary measures to break away from the opacity that enables such practices” that underpinned Qatargate and are at play in the new Huawei bribery allegations, said Manon Aubry, co-chair of The Left group.
Loránt Vincze, the EPP’s chief lawmaker in the constitutional affairs committee, on Thursday rejected the connection between the new bribery investigation and the ethics body. “No law or ethics body will ever be enough to prevent all irregular or even criminal activity,” he said, adding that about 85 percent of EPP members rejected the ethics body upon its creation.
Instead, Vincze pointed the finger at Belgian authorities: “It is concerning that Qatargate has so far led to no indictments of MEPs, while a new Belgian investigation has recently been leaked, further tarnishing the reputation of the European Parliament.”
“I call for greater professionalism from the Belgian authorities, especially when their statements impact the European Parliament as an institution,” Vincze said.
But other lawmakers called for tougher transparency requirements, including the final implementation of the ethics body.
“This new corruption scandal once again exposes the failures of European institutions in ensuring the integrity of European representatives and the protection of democracy,” Aubry said.
One of the last steps of Metsola’s 14-point reform plan includes new transparency regulations for the Parliament’s administration, and is in the process of being formally adopted. Staff will have to declare meetings with lobbyists and third country representatives in a database but without revealing the names of the individuals they meet.
But there’s a caveat: political group staff, unlike administration staff, would only be required to report meetings on a voluntary basis, and so far only the liberal Renew Europe, The Greens group and The Left confirmed they will ask staff to declare the meetings. Two officials said Parliament’s political groups are currently negotiating to follow a common system of declaring meetings.
With Thursday’s new allegations of bribery, corruption, forgery of documents and money laundering, the pressure on European Parliament members to crack down on malign lobbying is expected to rise further.
“These new allegations are as sweeping and serious as Qatargate and make a mockery of democracy at the European Parliament,” said Nicholas Aiossa, director at Transparency International’s office in Brussels. “If MEPs want to protect the integrity of the Parliament, they need to bring about swift, wide-ranging and substantial ethics reform.”
Antoaneta Roussi, Elisa Braun and Mathieu Pollet contributed reporting.
