Luxembourgish Socialist lawmaker Marc Angel was narrowly elected as a vice-president of the European Parliament on Wednesday (18 December), filling the vacancy left by the Greek MEP Eva Kaili, currently in custody on corruption charges.
Angel was elected in the second ballot with 307 votes, just reaching the 50% threshold of 296 to be elected.
The other two candidates, Italian Annalisa Tardino from the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group and French Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield from the Greens/EFA group received 185 and 98 votes, respectively.
Angel’s election was secured after the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) and liberal Renew group decided not to present candidates. However, the numbers from the secret ballot suggest that a significant number of MEPs from the two groups either abstained or voted for other candidates.
“After hearing all candidates today, the EPP group decided to support Marc Angel in the election for a new Vice President of the European Parliament,” the centre-right group wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
After hearing all candidates today, the @EPPGroup decided to support @MarcAngel_lu in the election for a new Vice President of the European Parliament. pic.twitter.com/L9WlYUcetL
— EPP Group (@EPPGroup) January 17, 2023
“I am honoured by the support of the EPP group. I look forward to our further cooperation to deliver results for our citizens,” replied Angel.
The so-called Qatargate corruption scandal continues to dominate Brussels.
At the beginning of December, four people were arrested by Belgian authorities following allegations they had accepted money from Qatar in exchange for influencing the Parliament’s assessments of human rights violations in the Emirati state. The accused included ex-MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri and former vice president Kaili.
Both the Qatari government and Kaili have denied any wrongdoing.
On Tuesday evening, Panzeri struck a plea deal with Belgian prosecutors, agreeing to divulge details about the countries involved and bribes made in exchange for a reduction of the charges against him.
Qatargate: Key suspect in EU graft scandal cuts deal with prosecutors
A key suspect in the so-called ‘Qatargate’ EU graft scandal, former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, has cut a deal to divulge information about countries involved and bribes made, Belgian prosecutors said on Tuesday (17 January).
In the wake of the affair, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola presented on Thursday (12 January) a draft of reforms to tighten controls on lobbying within institutions.
The rules include a ban of MEPs so-called ‘Friendship groups’, plans to introduce regular checks on all lobbyists in the Transparency Register (requesting them to verify links with third countries), to publish all meetings with third parties related to a Parliament report or a resolution, and declare any overseas trips.
MEP 'friendship' groups with foreign countries to be banned post-Qatargate
‘Friendship’ groups of MEPs with countries outside the EU will be banned under new plans to improve transparency in the European Parliament in the wake of the Qatargate bribery scandal.
A source from the Renew group told EURACTIV there is a strong will in the Parliament to implement those proposals before the Summer break.
[Edited by Benjamin Fox]
Source: euractiv.com
