A European Parliament body supervising anti-lobbying and lawmakers’ conduct rules must be given the power and money to launch independent investigations into abuses in the wake of a major corruption scandal, the European Ombudsman’s office warned Monday, according to AP News.
European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly, an independent watchdog monitoring administrative shortfalls in the European Union on behalf of the bloc’s 27 member countries, said that “diligent and independent oversight and enforcement of existing ethics rules is critical.”
After a series of raids across Brussels in December, Belgian prosecutors charged four people with corruption, money laundering and membership in a criminal organisation for allegedly taking money from Qatari and Moroccan officials to influence decision-making at the European Union’s parliament.
They include an EU lawmaker, who was an assembly vice president until the charges came to light, a parliamentary assistant, a former lawmaker and the head of a charity group. Prosecutors want the parliamentary immunity of two other lawmakers lifted, suggesting that they too might be charged.
Early this month, Parliament President Roberta Metsola unveiled plans to toughen controls on all lobbyists and publicly list any meetings that lawmakers might have with them. Under the plans, spot checks would be introduced on lawmakers’ financial disclosures and links to any country outside the 27-nation EU.