European Parliament to ban all unofficial ‘friendship groups’

The European Parliament will ban all unofficial “friendship groups” with third countries, strengthen its whistleblower protection systems and conduct a full review of all recent legislation, as it responds to a sprawling corruption scandal linked to football World Cup host Qatar.

MEPs’ financial interests will be scrutinised and a new regime to track all meetings with third-country representatives is being considered, Roberta Metsola, president of the parliament, said on Thursday. This is part of a package of anti-corruption reforms she said would be ready “in the new year”.

Belgian police have charged four people, including Greek MEP Eva Kaili, after raids at politicians’ homes uncovered about €1.5 million in cash, allegedly part of a bribery campaign by Doha.

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Ms Metsola, who on Thursday briefed the EU’s 27 leaders on the scandal, said she would overhaul the parliament’s regulations to ensure the chamber was “not for sale to foreign actors that seek to undermine us”.

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“This will include the strengthening of the parliament’s whistleblower protection systems, a ban on all unofficial friendships groups, a review of the policing of our code of conduct rules and a complete and in-depth look of how we interact with third countries,” she told reporters.

MEPs from the centre-right, liberal and centre-left groups have told the Financial Times they had been approached by Qataris through the Qatar-EU Parliamentary Friendship Group in Brussels. The group co-operates with the Qatari embassy in Brussels.

[ Greek MEP at centre of Qatar corruption inquiry has hearing postponed ]

The parliament would also review who could access its buildings and non-government organisations accredited to the institution.

On Wednesday the parliament suspended the accreditation of No Peace Without Justice, an NGO that Ms Metsola said was “allegedly connected to this investigation”.

Among the parliamentary agenda items of particular interest to Qatar is the question of visa-free travel to Europe, which members of the parliament’s home affairs committee supported in a vote in December. A vote by the whole parliament on visa-free travel for Qatar was scheduled for this week but has been put on hold in the wake of the arrests.

[ A suitcase full of cash: European Parliament hit by Qatar corruption investigation ]

A full review of “what has been voted on and worked on” has been requested, Ms Metsola said, adding: “We will look into everything. We will look into any undue pressure and any undue influence that we see that takes place.”

The response would also include a “thorough review” of the declaration of financial interests by all of the chamber’s 705 members, Ms Metsola said. She also proposed “a new mandatory transparency register of all meetings with any third country actor”.

Separately, MEPs voted on Thursday to support measures designed to boost transparency and accountability among all European institutions in response to the bribery scandal.

These include an inquiry committee to investigate corruption allegations, a special committee to look into flaws in transparency, and a vice-president responsible for fighting corruption and foreign interference within the European Parliament. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2022