The internal audit of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group in the European Parliament on Qatargate recommends strengthening the rules of integrity and transparency to prevent new scandals, without providing new data relevant to the judicial investigation.
The group’s three external auditors presented behind closed doors this Wednesday to Socialist MEPs the results of the internal investigation into the matter, which does not examine how Qatar-Morocco contacts with the suspected politicians took place, but analyzes the regulatory framework that could discourage, impede or more severely penalize this type of criminal behavior.
“The S&D Group, and certainly other groups in Parliament, need to reorganize and restructure their decision-making systems and the way they organize themselves. Systems for detecting and reporting questionable behavior need to be updated and guidelines set out on how to proceed. to go”says the text, asking to prioritize investigations as soon as there are complaints.
Accountants believe that the rules “can only be fully effective if the environment [político] and culture are strong enough to respect and apply them” and recommend that the group require its alternates to disclose conflicts of interest that may conflict before taking their positions.
The S&D group also lacks, the auditors add, the ability to penalize deputies who break the rules, beyond the final option of suspending them or expelling them from the group, as happened with the Qatargate suspects.
“A less drastic package of measures would be desirable to penalize delegates who do not abide by the group’s rules”says the report, which proposes barring offenders from representing S&D in internal European Parliament bodies or leading negotiations on new legislation.
Furthermore, in case the internal reform of the chamber itself, after Qatargate, is not ambitious enough, the auditors suggest that the group internally implements measures such as banning parallel employment of MEPs or reporting all meetings held by them. or their assistants are held with ‘ lobbies or representatives of third countries.
The political life of Brussels was rocked in December last year by the alleged payment arrangement in the European Parliament linked to Qatar and Morocco.
Several MEPs are said to have been involved in the plan, including former Socialist MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, through the NGO Fight Impunity, of which he chaired.
The audit found up to 27 documents from different levels compiling ethical norms and standards applicable to MPs and parliamentary employees, and they believe it would be useful for the European Parliament to publish a compendium in the future.
Group sources explained to the EFE bureau that this Wednesday all delegates could ask the auditors about the text, which they had access to for the first time in a European Parliament reading room, in writing and without mobile devices, to avoid leaks.
The auditors were Silvana Bacigalupo, president of Transparency International in Spain and professor of criminal law at the Autonomous University of Madrid, former British MP Richard Corbett, who led the Labor delegation during the final phase in the European Parliament, and Jean-Pierre Garitte, international consultant and trainer in governance, risk management and internal audit for 42 years.
Source: DN
