Top EU official says corruption scandal damages bloc's credibility

LONDON

Corruption scandals damage the EU’s credibility and makes it more difficult for the bloc to deal with other crises, according to the European Council president.

In an interview with website Politico.eu posted Wednesday, Charles Michel said he is very concerned over the charges of criminal enterprise, money laundering, and corruption that resulted in the arrest of a high-ranking European parliamentarian.

Eva Kaili, 44, from Greece's center-left PASOK-KINAL party, and one of the European Parliament’s 14 vice presidents, was arrested on Dec. 9 by Belgian police after her home was searched on corruption charges related to Qatar. Last week, she was barred from the parliament’s vice presidency over the allegations.

Amid news of the scandal, EU parliamentarians voted by a large majority last Thursday to suspend access privileges for Qatari lobbyists for the duration of the investigation. The final decision on the matter rests with Roberta Metsola, the EP president.

"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.

He also said the scandal is making it harder for the EU to focus on other challenges such as ongoing economic and energy crises.

Michel also said the US’ recent Inflation Reduction Act is among issues which risks "fragmentation of the single market" if they cannot find adequate answers soon.

"Overdependency on China" and the pressure on Europe from China are other important problems the European Union faces, he added.