Selon The evening, one of the four accused in Qatargate has confessed. This was confirmed to us by a Belgian source. This is Francesco Giorgi, the companion of Greek MEP Eva Kaili, stripped of her post as Vice-President of Parliament. The man is also the parliamentary assistant of the Italian deputy Andrea Cozzolino. According to court documents consulted by the Belgian daily, Francesco Giorgi admitted to being part of a network of influence intended to influence European decisions in the service of Qatar but also of Morocco.
Andrea Cozzolino occupies an essential cog in the group of Socialists and Democrats (S & D) since he is in charge of “emergencies”. These are in fact the emergency resolutions that the S&D group tables at the start of each parliamentary session. These resolutions have no legal consequences but they position the group on sensitive issues. However, the French deputies noticed, without understanding, that the emergency resolutions tabled by the group very often went against the United Arab Emirates, sworn enemies of the Qataris in the Arabian Peninsula. The petromonarchies therefore used the European Parliament as a playground for their struggles for diplomatic influence, even if it meant stipends a few relays in strategic posts.
The secret services behind the case
Morocco would also be involved, according to the investigation which was launched, in reality, by the intelligence services of a European country which flushed out foreign interference. The information was then passed on to the Belgian State Security. Belgian agents secretly entered the apartment of former Italian MP Pier Antonio Panzeri and discovered very large sums of cash (more than 500,000 euros). It was only after confirmation of the information that the file was sent to the judicial services, according to The evening, in view of a dragnet. The case starts from afar, because the police have been gathering evidence since July on behalf of Judge Michel Claise.
READ ALSOQatargate: on the trail of an “Italian Connection” On Wednesday, the defendants appeared before the Council Chamber of the Brussels Court. Pier Antonio Panzer and Francesco Giorgi remain in detention. Niccolò Figa Talamanca, head of the NGO No Peace Without Justice, is placed under house arrest with an electronic bracelet. The review of Eva Kaili’s situation has been postponed until December 22. She claims her innocence. According to his lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, the alleged corruption affair of Qatar and Morocco has “no relation to the money found in [s]at domicile [La police y a trouvé 150 000 euros, NDLR]. According to her lawyer, she was unaware of the existence of this money.
Stormy meetings among European socialists
Francesco Giorgi, during his interrogations, would implicate the Belgian deputy Marc Tarabella, who defends himself from any involvement. Marc Tarabella has suspended his participation in the S & D group. His home has been searched, his telephone and computer equipment are scrutinized by the police. He did not come to the Strasbourg parliamentary session “in order to remain in Belgium at the disposal of the investigation”, confides his entourage.
READ ALSOQatargate embarrasses Greeks to no endThe S & D group has increased meetings since Monday. The French, German, Romanian, Swedish, Danish, Dutch and Flemish delegations demand accountability from the leader of the group, the Spaniard Iratxe Garcia Perez, who, at each meeting, ends in tears and sometimes leaves the meeting to hide her tears. “She is completely overwhelmed by the situation. She has not mastered anything, ”we lament among the French. Under the impetus of Raphaël Glucksmann, the French have dissociated themselves from the pro-Qataris votes of the rest of the group. The discomfort of the other delegations is all the greater since they voted for the amendments weakening the resolution on workers’ rights in Qatar in the context of the World Cup. “I have the feeling of having been betrayed”, repeated, twice, the German Jens Geier, head of the SPD delegation, during the meeting of the group which was held Monday afternoon, in Strasbourg .
Spaniards embarrassed at armholes
All the delegations are calling for reforms to the internal functioning of the group, and in particular better control of the group’s political line, which is set in an opaque manner by a small number of people. All the delegations, except the Italians and some Spaniards who seem embarrassed at the corners. “The Spaniards give the impression of not wanting to move because it would be to recognize that they have been manipulated”, confides a member of the French delegation. The resignation of Iratxe Garcia Perez is not currently on the agenda even if internal dysfunctions overwhelm him.
This whole affair shows that foreign powers can thus influence the line of a European political group by buying a few people placed in key positions. The general secretary of the S&D group ended up sending a message to all the members on Wednesday evening, in order to call on each other for reforms which will be debated during the general assembly of the group on January 12. The internal administrative investigation, demanded by the French, is in progress and also extends to the administrative executives of the group.
The European Parliament is due to adopt a resolution on Thursday, drafted at top speed in response to the case. This resolution intends to underline the “need for transparency and accountability within the European institutions”. During the negotiation of this text between the parliamentary groups of the majority (EPP, S & D, Renew, The Greens, etc.), the European Socialists insisted on the establishment of a commission of inquiry and the improvement of the rules ethics on the transparency of Members’ contacts and travels.
“Emergency resolutions are the weak link”
This register of transparency – which does indeed exist – is not open to the general public (only to MPs among themselves). The recording of appointments is only optional. Some deputies publish everything (the elected representatives of the nations of the North, for example), others (especially on the extreme right) nothing. The parliamentary assistants, who carry out 85% of the legislative work, do not record any of their meetings with the various industrial, political or human rights lobbies.
“Emergency resolutions are the weak link in Parliament, points out MEP Arnaud Danjean (LR-PPE). And as if by chance, the left refuses that this figure in the hasty resolution on Qatargate that we are going to vote on today. They prefer to go all out on transparency and a investigative committee while Parliament has no real prerogative to investigate. Transparency ? One can be totally transparent within the institution and be corrupted outside… But the Socialists refuse any discussion on the procedure for emergency resolutions and the transparency of the NGOs that inspire them. Two subjects yet at the heart of the scandal. »