Belgian prosecutors probe alleged corruption in European Parliament
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Belgian prosecutors said on Thursday several individuals had been arrested for questioning in connection with their alleged involvement in active corruption within the European Parliament.
The prosecutors said 21 searches were carried out by the Federal Police in the Brussels region, as well as in Flanders, Wallonia and in Portugal.
Prosecutors did not disclose names and functions of the people involved and were not available for further comment.
Corruption, forgery and use of false documents is believed to have taken place regularly and “very discreetly” from 2021 to the present day, the prosecutors said.
It happened “under the guise of commercial lobbying and taking various forms, such as remuneration for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches,” they added.
The prosecutors said several documents and objects had been seized, with the aim to also detect any evidence of money laundering.
The European Parliament already faced major scrutiny over foreign states’ influence on EU decision-making in a scandal called Qatargate that erupted in December 2022, when the Gulf state was accused to have sought to influence Brussels and the European Parliament in particular through bribes and gifts via intermediary organizations.
Investigators have around 15 former and current MEPs “on the radar,” investigative news outlet Follow the Money and Belgian publications Le Soir and Knack first reported on the news.
“The European Parliament takes note of the information,” a spokesperson from the European Parliament said Thursday. “When requested it always cooperates fully with the judicial authorities.”
Follow the Money, Le Soir and Knack reported that prosecutors were looking into wrongdoing linked to Chinese technology giant Huawei. One person with knowledge of the investigation also confirmed the investigation was linked to Huawei.
Two people working in the building of Huawei’s main lobbying office for the European Union in Brussels told POLITICO they had seen police officers enter the office on Thursday morning and were still on the premises at noon.
Belgium’s State Security Service (VSSE) had requested interviews with former employees of the company’s lobbying operation in the heart of Brussels’ European district, as part of intelligence gathering to scrutinize how China may be using non-state actors — including senior lobbyists in Huawei’s Brussels office — to advance the interests of the Chinese state and its Communist party in Europe.
The Belgian security services are tasked with overseeing operations led by foreign actors around the EU institutions.
