‘Qatargate’, stab at the heart of Europe

The labyrinthine corridors of the European institutions have always given a lot of play. I spent a decade going through them, in a hurry looking for news and running into all kinds of people like those in the cast that star in these days the gloomy ‘Qatargate’.

During that stage in Brussels as a correspondent, I had a partner who worked precisely in a ‘lobby’, one of those demonized pressure groups whose objective is to bring interests, almost always private, closer to the institutions. In his case, the task was reasonably noble since he channeled requests from patient associations to sensitize the Eurolegislators on duty about rare diseases, many of which affect children, and complex and expensive medical devices to try to combat them. But behind this purpose, just as legitimate as that of the vast majority of the interests that move in decision-making nerve centers such as the community capital, were hiding some practices as unorthodox as they are widespread in that area.

To his natural Navarrese charm he added a range of procedures and actions that he adapted to each meeting, not so much depending on the topic as on his interlocutor and the situation. It was not the same to face a single person or a group, a man or a woman, have a formal meeting or force a meeting in a corridor or have a coffee or one of those delicious local beers. Each situation was treated in detail with the aim of obtaining the greatest possible profit.. And on Thursdays, in ‘Place Lux’, the square lined with bars in front of the European Parliament, the competition between young lobbyists consisted of amassing until the wee hours of the morning as many business cards as possible of parliamentary assistants and anyone else likely to be useful in the future.

It has caused something as unusual as the arrest of a member of the European Parliament, a situation that can only occur in the case of flagrante delicto

MEPs, parliamentary assistants, the lobbyist and the union leader implicated to date in the so-called ‘Qatargate’ have moved in these areas for years. In our case, our old and cold Belgian house was irrefutable proof that a sack of money had never circulated there. However, those who have been caught with wads of bills allegedly from Middle Eastern lobbies in what is already one of the biggest corruption scandals that has affected community institutions and that has caused something as unusual as the arrest of a member of the European Parliament, a situation that can only occur in the case of flagrante delicto, as as has happened with the Greek Eva Kaili.

background problem

All the sprinkled politicians have in common that they are, or have been part of, the European Social Democrats, the second largest political family in the Eurochamber. However, those who are already taking advantage of this circumstance to direct their criticisms have not focused well on the great underlying problem. It is not necessary to resurrect ghosts from the past to know that bribes do not understand political colors or affiliations or that corruption does not understand nationalities or institutions. Here the only certainty is that we are before a terrible blow to the European Union.

This high-profile bribery case has several extremely indigestible ingredients. One is Qatar, a country with standards that are the opposite of Europe. Another is the MEPs themselves and their “soldieras”, a hackneyed concept that is not lacking in any social gathering these days. And another is that of those interest groups with their non-transparent relationships, the aforementioned lobbies, such as that NGO for which one of the detainees is responsible, the former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, called (not kidding) ‘Combating impunity’ and that, thanks to its name and its members, has rowed for a long time in favor of the emirate through the channels closest to power of the European capital.

The evidence seized by the Belgian police in the form of wads of banknotes is living proof that there are not enough barriers to those who try to corrupt or allow themselves to be corrupted

Lobbyists are part of the system. That’s not the point. But it should be remembered that other shady issues of the past related to lobbies, more or less notorious, have forced the European institutions to create a transparency record in which the actors who influence decision-making are listed. A code of conduct for MEPs has also been created and the salaries and items they manage, their activities, their statements or the name of each of their assistants are public. However, the evidence seized by the Belgian police in the form of wads of banknotes is living proof that there are not enough barriers to those who try to corrupt or allow themselves to be corrupted.

Other media cases

The rapid dismissal of Kaili, until now Vice President of the European Parliament, the full cooperation with the Belgian authorities and the harsh messages that have emanated from the institution in recent days, such as that of its own president, Roberta MetsolaThese are the first steps that should be taken in an obvious way. And the following will have to be given by the countries of origin of the accused MEPs, responsible for withdrawing their seats. But these cannot be the only ones. It is essential that the European institutions, especially the European Parliament, delve into their control procedures to avoid inappropriate behaviors like these or like those of another media case such as that of the Fictitious National Front jobs of Marine Le Penperformance, by the way, copied in part by other parties without focusing on them.

Institutions that have always had such a difficult time connecting with citizens cannot allow the immense cloud of corruption to hang over them

The common project has faltered on numerous occasions throughout its more than seven decades and has always known how to recover, or even come out stronger, as in the case of ‘Brexit’. However, some institutions that have always had such a difficult time connecting with citizens cannot allow the immense cloud of corruption to hang over them, that stain so easy to spread and difficult to clean. The politicians of our country know it well. And even worse is that the feeling that the smell of money can break all principles is spreading outside the European borders. Europe should always be what it almost always is: an example. It should be that tall mirror at home in which the child tries to push himself and stand on his toes to be able to look at himself in it as adults do and imagine that he wants to be like them when he grows up.

There are things about Europe that are not understood, like many of the tedious debates, the mechanisms of European funds, the inequalities caused by the debt crisis, the refugee reception system, the European bureaucracy (although this has a point of urban legend), the obstacles that are sometimes placed on farmers and ranchers , to the fishermen and entrepreneurs, that it takes so long to deliver Puigdemont to Spain, if this finally happens, or that it does not intervene in some of the most controversial decisions of national governments. All these and many other doubts have their logical answer, but complex to explain and transfer.

Sense of belonging

What is understood is that it is essential to consolidate the European Union as a model of freedom and democracy for the world. The exemplarity must always be the norm, but not the only one. To understand that this scandal is an exception, it is necessary to try even harder in communicate the essential work that takes place in Brussels and that has a daily and direct impact on all European citizens. The first common response to the pandemic was an example, as is the current confrontation with Russia. This is shown by the recently published Eurobarometer for December with two very positive data on which to reconstruct the image of Europe after the tidal wave of ‘Qatargate’. The first is that 74% of European citizens approve of the EU’s support for Ukraine over Russia. The second is that in several eastern countries that until now were more detached from the European project, such as the Baltics or Poland, the percentage of citizens who consider belonging to the Union beneficial has skyrocketed. A feeling, by the way, that in Spain reaches 81%.

The responsibilities of ‘Qatargate’ must be purged in the European Parliament and in justice at the highest level and it must be a lesson for all. But the responsibility for this common project should not be found only in the capital of the European Union. It falls on the 450 million inhabitants that make it up, the education we give ourselves, the interest we show and the the representatives we elect.