MEPs debate with the Commission suspicions of corruption from Qatar and the broader need for transparency and accountability in the European institutions, after the investigation initiated by the Belgian prosecutor which involves some members, staff and former members of the European Parliament. Extracts from the debate.

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

LENAERS, Jeroen (EPP, NL)

REINTKE, Terry (Greens/EFA, DE)

fight against organised crime, corruption and money laundering (T)

IN 'T VELD, Sophia (Renew, NL)

GARCÍA PÉREZ, Iratxe (S&D, ES)

JOHANSSON, Ylva (SE, EC)

Suspicions of corruption from Qatar and the broader need for transparency and accountability in the European institutions: extracts from the debate

Title: Suspicions of corruption from Qatar and the broader need for transparency and accountability in the European institutions: extracts from the debate (I-235107)

SOUNBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, One thing is clear there must be serious tolerance for corruption. Corruption is a very serious crime that undermines our democracy, our economy, our society. I applaud the Belgian police and the Belgian authorities for the decisive action in this criminal investigation and for showing that prosecution and the law enforcement system work.

SOUNBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, To anyone accepting payoffs, kickbacks, bribes. I say shame on you. Shame on you for violating trust, the trust of the people of Europe who expect you to fight for their interest, not your own. And for violating the trust of your colleagues here in the Parliament who work very hard, honourably, truthfully, with decency. The only way we can rebuild trust is to fully support the investigations for the guilty to be brought to justice.

SOUNBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, As a Union, we need to learn the hard lessons. And take responsibility. Ensuring that we have a better mechanism and accountability in place. Get rid of differences in national laws that obstruct the fight against corruption. That's why I next year will propose a new law. We must criminalise all forms of corruption in all member states, not just bribery, as is the case today, but also trafficking in influence, illicit enrichment, embezzlement and abuse of power, and to impose tough EU wide criminal penalties for these crimes.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeroen LENAERS (EPP, NL), And we fully support the internal investigation that the president announced. We must do better increased transparency and accountability of all activities related to third countries, whether through NGOs or other actors, and strengthened defensive tools and anti-corruption measures to combat foreign interference in our work. All these steps are necessary to start regaining the trust of our citizens.

SOUNDIBTE (Spanish), Iraxe GARCIA PEREZ (S&D, ES), Some key points to make. First of all, those responsible are the people that broke the law and that committed serious crimes that they were aware of. And the full force of the law needs to fall on them. And then I've already announced that my group will also be involved in any court case. Now, we have to say that, in fact, the fact that there is a criminal investigation under way proves that rule of law does work. And we will do everything we can to cooperate with the investigation so that all facts are known.

SOUNDIBTE (Spanish), Iraxe GARCIA PEREZ (S&D, ES), We have to set up, I think, a committee of enquiry in the European Parliament because apart from this criminal behaviour we have to know what internal mechanisms can be improved to ensure that we do not see a situation like this again. We want maximum clarity and transparency taking into account that the legal investigation has not concluded. The most important is that that continues and that all the facts are known.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sophia IN 'T VELD (Renew, NL), Let us use this momentum and revise and strengthen the rules on ethics and transparency. Nevertheless, there is already a number of proposals on the table, like finally setting up an ethics body with teeth and expanding the transparency register to include third country representatives and much more. And we can learn from the best practises from other parliaments. This House, colleagues, must and can become the gold standard for integrity and transparency, and it is our joint cross-party task to restore trust.

SOUNDBITE (German), Terry REINTKE (Greens/EFA, DE), Corruption must have consequences. Full stop, no discussion. We need full investigation and of course, we need full cooperation with the Belgian authorities because. They've shown that there is a free and independent judiciary in Belgium. And something is very important is that we take measures to prevent this in the future. And there are things that you can't prevent, even with better rules, transparency. But nevertheless, we must focus on full transparency, for example, including third countries in the lobby register.