The so-called Qatargate corruption scandal could impact the EU elections of Spring 2024, German MEP Damian Boeselager told EURACTIV in a video interview.
On Friday (9 December), Greek MEP Eva Kaili, her partner Francesco Giorgi, and ex-MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, president of the NGO Fight Against Impunity, were arrested by the Belgian police on suspicion of corruption.
Kaili was subsequently removed as Vice-President of the European Parliament on Tuesday.
Belgian police are continuing to investigate allegations that figures working on behalf of World Cup host Qatar have paid European politicians huge bribes in exchange for political influence in Brussels, marking one of the biggest corruption scandals in the EU’s history.
EU lawmaker Boeselager (Greens/EFA) told EURACTIV that the events may affect the EU elections of Spring 2024.
“We have to see how systemic this issue really is,” Boeselager said. “Is it broader than that? […] these are the questions that we are trying to solve right now.”
Kaili removed as EU Parliament VP following corruption scandal
In an almost unanimous vote, EU lawmakers removed Eva Kaili as vice president of the European Parliament on Tuesday (13 December), following the so-called Qatargate, one of the biggest corruption scandals in the EU’s history.
Upcoming elections
“We want people to vote for the European elections and to have a strong Parliament here,” the German MEP said.
Boeselager praised the proposal expanding the ability of EU citizens to vote while living in third countries, however, he criticised the lack of progress regarding transnational lists and the ‘Spitzenkandidaten’.
Earlier in 2022, an electoral law was proposed by EU lawmakers to create 28 transnational seats – one directly elected representative of each member state – on top of the already-existent 705 seats in the Parliament.
In addition to transnational lists, the official implementation of the ‘Spitzenkandidaten’ was again on the table of discussion, to eventually give EU citizens the possibility to choose the president of the EU Commission.
Despite the push from EU lawmakers, a document circulated to EU ambassadors seen by EURACTIV in early December stated that “discussions within Council indicate that there is no unanimity in favour of the European Parliament’s proposal as it stands”, thereby effectively stalling the proposal’s process.
Boeselager described the lack of progress as a “trauma”. With the two proposals, explained the German MEP, EU lawmakers intended to “strengthen the idea of pan-European parties so that [EU citizens] can actually vote for the European parties, and then [also strengthening the] mandate for the ‘spitzenkandidat’”.
However, everything “is a bit stuck”, he said.
EU countries to reject Spitzenkandidaten and pan-EU election lists
EU governments are set to formally kill off plans for transnational lists and Spitzenkandidaten, or lead candidates, at the next European elections in 2024.
In the interview with EURACTIV, the German MEP also criticised the lack of follow-up on the recommendations produced by citizens during the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), the EU’s year-long deliberative democracy experiment.
“Not enough has been done. From the EU Parliament side, we actually try it a lot. We triggered article 48, which basically would change the European treaty,” he said, referring to the call to reopen the EU’s treaties to enable full implementation of CoFoE participants’ recommendations.
“Sadly, from the member states, there is no real change yet,” he said.
[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
Source: euractiv.com
