European Parliament: the President’s 141 gifts and “forgotten” trips

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As the institution grapples with the Qatargate and Marocgate scandals, Roberta Metsola’s teams are rushing to declare gifts received during the year.

Par Emmanuel Berretta

The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, in Strasbourg, January 17, 2023.
© Frederick Florin/AFP

Published on 01/19/2023 at 3:58 p.m.
– Modified 01/19/2023 at 4:56 p.m.

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LCatching up on homework on the last day of vacation, everyone knows. In the European Parliament, it’s the same! The deadlines for registering trips and gifts in the public register have largely passed, but everyone is busy declaring what had not been done in time. Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, is no exception to the rule.

Her cabinet registered, between January 11 and 12, the 141 gifts received by the president since the beginning of her mandate, in January 2022. A compliance that fairly reflects the atmosphere “I wash whiter than white which seizes the institution in the turmoil of Qatargate and Marocgate.

President Metsola has just published a list of 14 objectives to strengthen the ethical rules, quite narrow…