€633,000 in cash just “resting” in an MEP’s apartment. Is this a one off or the tip of a large EU government scandal?
" I never noticed that under the bed before " 🤣
What does 'liking' the EU have to do with whether or not someone is corrupt?
Desperate.
There's always a healthy supply of snide comments about the EU being seen as perfect whenever something like this happens, rare as it is.
As has been said, this is a party matter and the person involved has been arrested. It's not the silver bullet Europhobes think it is.
Looking at transparency international European countries become more corrupt the further east and south you go.
The Nordics,Britain, Germany the least, ourselves quite good and then on and on down.
Anyone who has experience of business in a France will see how sown up things can be.
Corruption is a part of human nature but it festers more in some places, a jingoistic defence of the EU is akin to FF in the 80s, head in the sand.
A lot of people who were electoral liabilities were often dumped or promoted in to the EU.
Many leading EU figures have serious corruption scandals hanging over them, Ursula VDL being one. I'm talking about the defence budget scandal, not the Pfizer one, that's still brewing. The European Court of Auditors reported that the Commission refused to pass on any information on the matter, the EU ombudsman said the commission was practicing maladministration in refusing his freedom of information request.
The standard response will be to accuse the EU ombudsman and the EU court of Auditors of being EU skeptic.
This Qatari affair is tip of the Iceberg and at the milder end of the spectrum.
No evidence. As usual.
Netherlands plan on bringing in a new law for the plebs to counter money laundering. Meanwhile politicians have thousands hidden in the knicker drawers at home.
Whether people have made snide comments or guilt by association inferences, claiming that EU bribe-takers are probably secretly anti-EU is an utterly desperate comeback.
Even a Conservaphobe like yourself can appreciate that surely.
There's no point in engaging if you're going gaslight.
Blind loyalism to anything is always a dead end and always head in the sand.
Look at the head of European Movement International, a group dedicated to supporting the EU and gets funded by the EU.
He called out the EU for side stepping this issue and is worried that it will damage the Eu.
Screaming by jingo and accusing him of being a lundy is not defending the EU, is not siding with those who are Anti EU.
He is just pointing out the obvious.
Still nothing but hysterics. I'll just consider this debunked.
If you read the article a little more closely, when it talks about "EU leaders" wanting to avoid the issue, it's talking about the EU Council - i.e. the national governments of the member states. And, despite the headline, the article actually points out that while some leaders want to distance themselves from the issue, others are demanding action.
The matter was investigated by the Belgian police because the EU doesn't have a police force, or any powers of arrest. The Parliament has removed Kaili as a Vice President, and suspended consideration of all business involving Qatar pending an enquiry. Which may not be much but, as pointed out, is rather more than, e.g., the UK parliament does with members accused of corrupt behaviour.
The scandal was uncovered by Belgium’s intelligence service, working with other national intelligence services after a year long investigation.
It is unlikely that a national police force would have the remit or resources to investigate this type of graft at a European level.
The EU already suffers from a democratic deficit but if the public perception is that this is also coupled with corruption, be it funded by countries or corporations, it will further undermine trust in EU institutions.
It's going to sicken people if Wallace and Daly don't get found with anything.
Not really they are Team putin anyway damage done.
Surely your second paragraph is contradicted by your first?
I don’t see the contradiction. An Intelligence service is separate from the police.
Sometimes, sometimes not. And sometimes - most often, in fact - it's a combination of agencies, of which some are police agencies and some are not.
But I don't see that it matters greatly. Either national law enforcement agencies do investigate corruption in EU institutions or they do not. In this case, they clearly did. That makes sense — it is national laws that are being broken here; the EU doesn't have a criminal code.
There's still a legitimate question to be asked, I think, about whether the EU requires its own law enforcement agencies, or whether we are better off relying on national agencies, which are independent of the EU, to do it. But you can be absolutely confident that those currently denouncing the EU as irredeemably corrupt would immediately denounce it as authoritarian and oppressive if it sought to establish its own law enforcement agencies to address corruption.
The investigation was undertaken by the Belgian Intelligence service. One of the oldest intelligence services in the world and distinct snd separate from the Belgian police.
I presume where corruption at state level, in this case Qatar, is involved, the intelligence service is responsible rather than national police.
I am not an expert in national intelligence agencies but from the ones I am familiar with they are separate, with different competencies from national police forces.
I like how you claim the EU rooted out the scandal but when its pointed out that it was the Belgian cops, you try to pretend that somehow makes your point 😂
It does. Belgium is in the EU.
Probably a few bags of roubles in a house or two in Ireland too.
Her delivery of the goods during speeches has been ongoing though, or at least was until she was arrested.
By that logic German Intelligence agency could just walk in the Brussels and conduct an investigation. Interpol is the only European wide agency.
By that logic the EU voted for Brexit😂
Orban having a laugh at the grandstanding of the EP
A lot in fact. If a story broke that the Qataris had been bribing Nigel Farage in his capacity as an MEP, what inference would you draw from that? Wouldn't he be quite rightly seen as a troublemaker who was working against the interests of the EU?
yes.
Farage stated thatthe EP corruption watchdog spent all of its time investigating him and it amounted to nothing.
Compare to this little ring requiring the Belgian cops to bust it up.
I've no idea where you're getting this from.
Simple the EU did not investigate this a branch of the Belgian authorities did. Interpol is the only inter branch in Europe. Belgian cops cant just walk into France. Same way German intelligence agency cannot just enter Belgium. No idea how this can be made out as the EU investigating its self. Unless someone can point to a part in a EU charter that mentions An agency of the EU commission with legal power to arrest, jail someone.
Again, this makes no sense. I never suggested that the police of one state had jurisdiction in another.
