Avramopoulos Says No Role in EU NGO Tied to Corruption Probe

Subscribe here: https://bit.ly/eudebates A former European Commissioner for New Democracy, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said he was only an honorary member of a European Union anti-corruption group whose leader is facing charges in a Qatar bribery scheme.

Avramopoulos said he had no active role in Fight Impunity that was run by a former Member of Parliament from Italy Pier Antonio Panzeri who was one of four people arrested – including Greek MEP Eva Kaili – in a corruption probe by Belgian police.

Avramopoulos said the European Commission approved his symbolic role, for which he said he was paid 5000 euros ($5312) monthly and that it was “without executive of managerial responsibilities,” said Greece’s state-run Athens-Macedonia News Agency ANA-MPA.

“For my participation and the compensation that accompanied it I asked for the approval of the European Commission and it was given to me in writing, by President (Ursula) Von der Leyen,” the former commissioner for migration, home affairs and citizenship said.

“A corresponding assenting opinion for my participation in the organisation’s honorary committee was given by the Independent Ethical Committee of the European Union, on December 10, 2020,” he added.

He said he declared the income and paid 1,250 euros monthly ($1,328) in Greek taxes but asked not to be paid by the non-governmental organization after a year because its activities had declined significantly.

He said as soon as news of the scandal broke that “I immediately and irrevocably submitted my resignation and asked that my name be removed from the website, along with the other personalities participation in the committee.”

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Subscribe here: https://bit.ly/eudebates The World Cup in Qatar ended on Sunday with one of the most thrilling finals in football history but the corruption scandal in the European Parliament (‘Qatargate’) does not disappear from the limelight and will continue to intrigue the European institutions until it has been fully investigated and justice has been done.

As previously reported, the European Parliament – the most implicated institution - adopted on Friday a resolution in response to the corruption allegations, stressing the broader need for greater transparency with an overwhelming majority - 541 votes in favour, two against, and three abstentions.

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The parliament is appalled by the recent allegations that MEPs, former MEPs and parliament staff are involved in corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization. They support the full cooperation of the Parliament with the ongoing investigation, noting that "internal systems failed to prevent corruption."

They have also denounced the alleged corruption attempts by Qatar, which – if true - would constitute a serious foreign interference in European democracy by paying large sums of money or offering large gifts to people with important positions in the Parliament.

As an immediate measure, the Parliament decided to suspend all work on legislative files relating to Qatar – particularly concerning visa liberalization with two Gulf states, the EU aviation agreement with Qatar, as well as planned visits, pending the results of the Belgian police investigation.

The European Commission, which had prepared these files, appeared to be taken by surprise last week when it somewhat prematurely announced that it had approved visa liberalization agreements with Qatar and Kuwait after an assessment.

While the Parliament has the final say as regards visa liberalization, the Commission could not explain why other Gulf countries -Bahrein and United Arab Emirates that have signed normalization agreements with Israel (‘Abraham Accords’) – had not been assessed for visa liberalization.

As regards the aviation agreement, a Commission spokesperson said last week that it had already been signed in October 2021 but that only six member states have ratified it yet. In the meantime, the aviation agreement will be applied pending the final ratification, unless the parties concerned decide to suspend it.

At the heart of the scandal lies the cash of altogether €1,5 million found in the homes of former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri and current Greek MEP Eva Kaili Brussels. Of this sum, €600,000 was found in a suitcase carried by Kaili's father as he was leaving the Sofitel hotel in downtown Brussels. Kaili’ partner, Francesco Giorgi, is also her parliamentary assistant and a former assistant of Panzeri.