EU parliament arrests linked to Qatar World Cup ‘corruption’ spark calls for reform
- The police arrested five people, including former and current members of the parliament
- The investigation concerns ‘corruption’ and ‘money laundering’, the prosecutor said.
The arrest of a European Parliament vice-president and four others linked to a corruption investigation implicating World Cup hosts Qatar sparked calls on Saturday for the bloc’s MPs to be held to higher standards.
“This is not an isolated incident,” said anti-corruption campaigning group Transparency International.
“While this may be the most egregious case of alleged corruption the European Parliament has seen in many years, it is not an isolated incident,” said a statement from its director Michiel van Hulten.
“Over many decades, the Parliament has allowed a culture of impunity to develop, with a combination of lax financial rules and controls and a complete lack of independent [or indeed any] ethics oversight.
“In many ways it has become a law unto itself,” added van Hulten, urging “root and branch” reform.
“Every serious attempt to improve accountability is blocked by the Parliament’s ruling Bureau, with the acquiescence of a majority of MEPs,” he added.
Left-wing French MEP Manon Aubry condemned Qatar’s “aggressive lobbying” and demanded a parliamentary debate on the Gulf state.