The plenary session of the European Parliament decided to refer the agreement with the State of Qatar regarding visas to the LIBE Committee. • Remove Kylie from the Socialists immediately. • A discussion on Tuesday about forming a committee on protecting institutions from corruption attempts.
Over the course of the fourth twenty-four hours, developments surrounding the scandal rocking the European Union were stormy. It relates to lobbying Qatar in the European Parliament, with Eva Kylie being the name most shaken.
Belgian prosecutors announced, late Monday afternoon, that police authorities in Brussels are carrying out a second raid on the offices of the European Parliament.
According to a new announcement from the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in Brussels, Eva Kaili and the three other provisional detainees over the scandal will appear before the pre-trial chamber on Wednesday.
The prosecution’s announcement stated that “several hundred thousand euros were confiscated in three different places: 600,000 euros in a suspect’s home, several hundred thousand euros in a suitcase in a hotel room in Brussels and about 150,000 euros in an apartment owned by a member of the European Parliament.” According to the Belgian publications of the previous days, everything shows that this is the money that was found in Mrs. Cayley’s house, in the possession of her father, but also in the possession of another suspect, the former Italian deputy Antonio Panzieri.
Among the names that appear to relate to justice, according to information from Le Soir and Knack, is that of Maria Arena, the Belgian MEP (S&D), who was involved in the past with the Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella at the time of the work of the GM, the parliamentary aide, whose office was closed on Friday. On Twitter, Maria Arena announced her temporary departure from chairing the Subcommittee on Human Rights in the European Parliament. “That’s until everything becomes clear.”
Prosecution announcement
In the more than four-month-long case of a federal prosecutor led by a Brussels investigator into corruption, money laundering and organized crime, new investigations began on Monday afternoon.
Since Friday, with the support of the European Parliament’s security services, the electronic resources of 10 parliamentary staff have been “frozen” to prevent the disappearance of information needed for the investigation. The purpose of today’s European Parliament research was to capture this data.
On Sunday, December 11, various investigations took place in Italy.
This research was conducted with the support of Eurojust.
Since operations began, a total of 20 inspections have been carried out, including 19 in private homes and this in the offices of the European Parliament.
Legal provisions for searching the homes of MEPs vary according to their nationality and location. In specific terms, in the event that an investigation is carried out by Belgium concerning a Belgian Member of the European Parliament, the rules of Belgian immunity granted to Belgian Members of Parliament must apply. In order to investigate a Belgian MEP, the Belgian constitution requires an order from the First President of the Court of Appeal at the request of the competent investigator and in the presence of the President of the relevant assembly (in this case, the European Parliament).
So both conditions were met this weekend. The statement indicated that all this was done with the excellent cooperation and support of the security services in the House of Representatives.
It should be noted that the existence of a crime “of its own accord” also allows them to act, in particular to carry out investigations, even in the case of parliamentary immunity.
Mobilization in the European Parliament
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, pledged this afternoon in plenary to launch an internal investigation.
“We will face this test head-on, and there will be no impunity,” Metsola said at the opening of the parliament session in Strasbourg. “We are Europeans, we would rather be cold than get paid,” the Italian president told the European Parliament. While noting that there was a presumption of innocence, she called an extraordinary meeting of the Bureau to begin the procedure – suspending Ms. Cayley’s term as Vice-President of the European Parliament.
The malicious perpetrators used NGOs, MPs, assistants and others like Trojan horses, Metsola emphasized, adding that the European Parliament services worked very closely and coordinated with the authorities.
One of the most important developments that took place today is that the plenary session of the European Parliament decided to refer the issue of the agreement with Qatar on visas to the LIBE Committee.
In another important development, the European Parliament voted by a large majority on the proposal put forward by the President of the European Left Group (LEFT) to discuss the creation of a committee concerned with the issue of protecting institutions from corruption attempts. The debate will take place on Tuesday afternoon.
Manon Aubry, Chairman of LEFT, reminded that former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is also responsible for dealing with Qatar and asked to extend the investigation to Margaritis Chenna, Vice-Chairman of the Committee.
Delisting Kylie from the Socialists, with immediate effect
MEP Eva Kaili has been removed from the European Parliament’s Socialists and Democrats group: a decision with immediate effect.
The S&D group invoked Article 21 of the Parliamentary Procedure Rules, which sets out the conditions under which senior members of Parliament can be removed.
In addition, any member of the Socialist Parliament under investigation with parliamentary aides must “resign from any responsible position and refrain from any activity within the European Parliament,” the Eurogroup said.
The S&D also called for an urgent public debate this week about “Gulf corruption” and suggested setting up a parliamentary inquiry into foreign interference.
A Cypriot member of the European Parliament denounced Kylie’s lobbying attempt
In the midst of all these developments, Cypriot MP Lucas Vourlas today reported to SigmaLive that Eva Kayley has reached out to him in order to pass the Qatar-related amendments.
“This happens between colleagues. When I saw the amendments and they were related to Qatar, I shuddered and called the Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Cornelio, and told him that like Cyprus we should not interfere.”
“I don’t know if the amendments were passed, or if another colleague introduced them,” Mr. Furlas added.
Cooperate with the Italian authorities and raid Panzi’s homes
The Belgian Federal Prosecutor has submitted a request for judicial cooperation with Italy through the European Union agency Eurojust. A spokesman confirmed the agency, responsible for cooperation in criminal cases.
The spokesman said that the Belgian authorities have not submitted another request at the present time, indicating that cooperation in the case is currently limited to Belgium and Italy.
Investigations were also conducted today in Italy, Milan and Calusco d’Ada in the province of Bergamo against Antonio Panzieri. New investigations have led to the confiscation of media and electronic documents, as well as €17,000 in cash found at the home in the province of Bergamo.
With regard to Maria Dolores Collioni, Panzieri’s wife, and Silvia Panzieri, daughter of a former MEP, “there do not appear to be any obstacles to their extradition” to Belgium, according to Brescia Court of Appeal Judge Anna Dalla Libera. The two women were arrested on Friday from their home in Bergamo and placed under house arrest. They are charged with corruption, money laundering, and participation in a criminal organization for acts committed between January 1, 2021, and December 8, 2022.
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