Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Mar 25, 2023

Corruption scandal ‘damaging’ to EU credibility, says Charles Michel

Corruption scandal ‘damaging’ to EU credibility, says Charles Michel

European Council chief says scandal makes it harder to focus on ‘on the economic and energy crises that impact the lives of European citizens right now.’
The “Qatargate” corruption scandal rocking the European Parliament is “dramatic and damaging for the credibility of the European Union” and makes it harder for Brussels to deal with multiple competing crises, European Council President Charles Michel told POLITICO in an exclusive interview.

Speaking in his offices in the Europa building in Brussels, Michel said he was very concerned over the charges of criminal enterprise, money laundering and corruption brought by the Belgian police against current and former members of the European Parliament in recent days.

“We first need to learn lessons from this and come up with a package of measures to avoid such things — to prevent corruption in the future,” said Michel, a former Belgian prime minister who is now in his second term as president of the European Council, the body that convenes the leaders of the EU’s 27 member countries.

But the scandal is “making it even more difficult for us to focus on the economic and energy crises that impact the lives of European citizens right now,” he said.

Belgian police have arrested multiple people, including Greek MEP Eva Kaili and her Italian partner, Francesco Giorgi, as well as Italian former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri and Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, secretary-general of a rule-of-law campaign group.

The police have also sealed multiple offices in the Parliament and seized at least €1.5 million in cash following what they say was a year-long, Europe-wide investigation into alleged corruption and money laundering.


Coming just as the football World Cup reached its crescendo in Qatar, the affair has confirmed the image of the petro-kingdom as a malign meddling power and the EU as a murky playground for corrupt, entitled, sanctimonious Eurocrats.

“The EU has only made global headlines a handful of times in the last year — for example when we banned the internal combustion engine and now with this corruption scandal,” Valérie Hayer, a French MEP from President Emmanuel Macron’s party, lamented to POLITICO. 

Michel acknowledged that the average European was unlikely to differentiate between the three big branches of the EU — the European Parliament, the European Council he leads and the European Commission, which serves as the executive branch and proposes legislation.

The taint of scandal will make his job far harder as he seeks to “renew the wedding vows of the EU” in the new year and tries to tackle a series of issues he described as “existential for the European project.”

Those include negotiations with the United States over the Inflation Reduction Act subsidy program that has panicked European leaders who worry about their relative economic competitiveness.

If Europe cannot come up with an adequate answer in the coming weeks, then it risks the “fragmentation of the single market,” Michel said. He said the other big problem facing Europe was “overdependency on China and the pressure being applied on us by China.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
Close
0:00
0:00
Powell: Silicon Valley Bank was an 'outlier'
I have a dream, MLK inspiring speech
Donald Trump arrested – Twitter goes wild with doctored pictures
Aretha Franklin, Marvis Staples - Oh Happy Day
NYPD is setting up barricades outside Manhattan Criminal Court ahead of Trump arrest.
BVI Freedom Song
Credit Suisse's Scandalous History Resulted in an Obvious Collapse - It's time for regulators who fail to do their job to be held accountable and serve as an example by being behind bars.
Billy Preston - You Can't Beat God Giving (Live)
Home Secretary Suella Braverman tours potential migrant housing in Rwanda as asylum deal remains mired in legal challenges
VIRGIN ISLANDS REGGAE CARIBBEAN RIDDIMZ
Paris Rioting vs Macron anti democratic law
Oh Happy Day Edwin Hawkins - Anthony Brown w FBCG Combined Choir
'Sexual Fantasy' Assignment At US School Outrages Parents
'Stand by Me' performed by Karen Gibson and The Kingdom Choir
Credit Suisse to borrow $54 billion from Swiss central bank
National Anthem of the British Virgin Islands - Oh, Beautiful Virgin
Russian Hackers Preparing New Cyber Assault Against Ukraine
Hello Dolly
Jeremy Hunt insists his Budget will get young parents and over-50s back into work
for KING & COUNTRY - Amen (Reborn) [feat. Lecrae & The WRLDFMS Tony Wi
If this was in Tehran, Moscow or Hong Kong
Bob Marley - Get Up Stand Up
Nashville police officer, and a female driver shooting one another
Yes He Can
TRUMP: "Standing before you today, I am the only candidate who can make this promise: I will prevent World War III."
What A Friend We Have In Jesus
Mexican President Claims Mexico is Safer than the U.S.
Unforgettable
A brief banking situation report
Touch The Hem Of His Garment
Lady bites police officer and gets instantly reaction
The Lord's Prayer
We are witnessing widespread bank fails and the president just gave a 5 min speech then walked off camera.
THE GOD MOVEMENT...BEAUTIFUL BVI
Donald Trump's asked by Tucker Carlson question on if the U.S. should support regime change in Russia?.
Siyahamba
Good news: The U.S. government is now guaranteeing all deposits, held by, Silicon Valley Bank, and the funds are available as of today
Ray Charles And The Voices Of Jubilaton, Oh, Happy Day
Silicon Valley Bank exec was Lehman Brothers CFO
Ramblin' Rose
In a potential last-ditch effort, HSBC is considering a rescue deal to save Silicon Valley Bank UK from insolvency
Protoje - Who Knows ft. Chronixx
BBC Director General, Tim Davie, has apologized, but not resigned, yet, following the disruption of sports programmes over the weekend
Pressure - Virgin Islands Nice
A Mississippian man, who was once considered a “ticking time bomb,” has lost a whopping 165 kilograms! What motivated this incredible transformation?
Phil Wickham - House Of The Lord
Elon Musk Is Planning To Build A Town In Texas For His Employees
My God Is Real (Yes, God Is Real)
The Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse effect is spreading around the world, affecting startup companies across the globe
The Lion King Circle of Life by LEBO M. — LIVE at the HAVASI Symphonic
City officials in Berlin announced on Thursday that all swimmers at public pools will soon be allowed to swim topless
Louis Armstrong - When The Saints Go Marching In
Fitness scam
Kanye West Sunday Service - hallelujah, salvation, and glory
Market Chaos as USDC Loses Peg to USD after $3.3 Billion Reserves Held by Silicon Valley Bank Closed.
Jonathan Nelson - I Believe (Island Medley
A primitive judge in Australia sparked outrage when he told a breastfeeding woman to leave his courtroom for being “a distraction"
From The Virgin Islands Sqad Up
Barcelona is feeling the heat as they face corruption charges over payments to former vice-president of Spain's referees' committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira
Common, John Legend - Glory
Senator Tom Cotton: If the Mexican Government Won’t Stop Cartels from Killing Americans, Then U.S. Government Should
Anthony Evans vs. Jesse Campbell - If I Ain't Got You
Banking regulators close SVB, the largest bank failure since the financial crisis
I have a dream, MLK inspiring speech
The unelected UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, an immigrant himself, defends new controversial crackdown on illegal migration
Aretha Franklin, Marvis Staples - Oh Happy Day
Old clip of Bill Gates saying Ukraine is a big, fat, corrupt sinkhole is going viral
BVI Freedom Song
Man’s penis amputated by mistake after he’s wrongly diagnosed with a tumour
Billy Preston - You Can't Beat God Giving (Live)
In a major snub to Downing Street's Silicon Valley dreams, UK chip giant Arm has dealt a serious blow to the government's economic strategy by opting for a US listing
VIRGIN ISLANDS REGGAE CARIBBEAN RIDDIMZ
JP Morgan Becomes First Bank to Predict UK Will Avoid Recession
Oh Happy Day Edwin Hawkins - Anthony Brown w FBCG Combined Choir
JP Morgan Becomes First Bank to Predict UK Will Avoid Recession
'Stand by Me' performed by Karen Gibson and The Kingdom Choir
How do stolen goods end up on Amazon, eBay and Facebook Marketplace?
National Anthem of the British Virgin Islands - Oh, Beautiful Virgin
It's the question on everyone's lips: could a four-day workweek be the future of employment?
Hello Dolly
Is Gold the Ultimate Safe Haven Asset in Times of Uncertainty?
for KING & COUNTRY - Amen (Reborn) [feat. Lecrae & The WRLDFMS Tony Wi
×