An influential committee at the European Union’s parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to lift the protective immunity of two politicians being sought by Belgian authorities on suspicion of links to a major corruption scandal.
The European Parliament’s legal affairs committee decided by 23 votes to zero, with no abstentions, to lift the parliamentary immunity of Belgian politicians Marc Tarabella and Italian Andrea Cozzolino, its chairman, Adrian Vazquez Lazara, announced on Twitter.
The move paves the way for the full house to vote on whether to remove their protections on Thursday so that the two men, who are members of the centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) political group hardest hit by the scandal, can be questioned by Belgian prosecutors.
Following the request of the Belgian authorities, @EP_Legal has decided, by unanimity, to waive the immunities of two Members of the European Parliament.
Marc Tarabella:👍23, 👎0, ⭕️0
Andrea Cozzolino:👍23, 👎0, ⭕️0— Adrián Vázquez Lázara 🇪🇦🇪🇺 (@AdrianVL1982) January 31, 2023
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Hundreds of thousands of euros were seized in raids across Brussels in December.
Four people were charged with corruption, money laundering and membership of a criminal organisation for allegedly accepting bribes from Qatari and Moroccan officials to influence parliamentary proceedings.
They are S&D politician Eva Kaili, who was an assembly vice president until the charges came to light; her partner and parliamentary assistant Francesco Giorgi; former S&D politician Pier Antonio Panzeri; and the head of a charity group, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca.
Qatar and Morocco deny any involvement.
The request by prosecutors for parliament to lift the immunity of Mr Tarabella and Mr Cozzolino suggests they too could be charged. Both men deny wrongdoing and have said they are willing to talk to investigators.
A lawyer for Mr Panzeri’s wife and daughter, who were also being sought over suspected links to what has become one of the EU’s biggest-ever scandals, said on Monday that they had been freed from house arrest after Belgian authorities abandoned their attempt to have the pair transferred for questioning.
The two women have agreed to meet freely with investigators at an as-yet undetermined date.
The decision in Brussels came days after Mr Panzeri agreed to become an informant in exchange for a lighter sentence, pledging to name names and detail financial arrangements with those involved.
