When EU leaders meet tomorrow, their gathering will as usual be prefaced by an exchange with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola. The opportunity to chide her over the “Qatar” bribery scandal that has engulfed the parliament will be relished by many leaders who resent MEPs’ constant hectoring and insistence that they are the true source of democratic legitimacy in the union.
There is much at stake for the parliament. How it responds to the scandal has real potential to set back its gradual accretion of power and influence, not only in inter-institutional battles, but in the goodwill of a sceptical public. It must now move fast – it may already be too late – to create a credible ethics policing mechanism, something MEPs have vociferously demanded for others but neglected for themselves, and one, as Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly insists, with real investigatory and sanction powers.
It will find it difficult to sustain the “few bad apples” defence. Four politicians and aides have been arrested and charged with corruption including Greek parliament Vice President Eva Kaili and former MEP, Pier Antonio Panzeri. Belgian police have searched over 20 homes and offices, where equipment belonging to 10 members of staff has been frozen. They have found up to ¤1 million in cash bundles.Kaili, who denies the charges, has been removed from her parliamentary position and suspended by her party, the Socialists and Democrats.
The finger of responsibility is pointed firmly at Qatar, which is denying responsibility. But MEPs, as a first step, have postponed a vote on a liberalisation of the country’s visa regime with the EU. Qatar has form – as the World Cup comes to its conclusion, not a few of its critics are reminding anyone who will listen of the dubious cash payments by Doha to officials of national federations to secure the finals. An official Fifa probe identified “conduct by Qatar 2022 that may not have met the standards set out in the FCE [Fifa code of ethics]” but did not conclude that votes had been bought.