{"id":105821,"date":"2025-03-13T12:19:06","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T12:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/corruption-survey-in-the-european-parliament-searches-in-belgium-and-portugal\/"},"modified":"2025-03-13T12:19:08","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T12:19:08","slug":"corruption-survey-in-the-european-parliament-searches-in-belgium-and-portugal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/corruption-survey-in-the-european-parliament-searches-in-belgium-and-portugal\/","title":{"rendered":"Corruption survey in the European Parliament: searches in Belgium and Portugal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<figure class=\"article__media\"> <picture class=\"article__media\"><source srcset=\" https:\/\/img.lemde.fr\/2025\/03\/12\/0\/0\/6000\/4000\/556\/0\/75\/0\/7e382d0_ftp-import-images-1-oiezs5ddvx6q-5295283-01-06.jpg 556w, https:\/\/img.lemde.fr\/2025\/03\/12\/0\/0\/6000\/4000\/600\/0\/75\/0\/7e382d0_ftp-import-images-1-oiezs5ddvx6q-5295283-01-06.jpg 600w, https:\/\/img.lemde.fr\/2025\/03\/12\/0\/0\/6000\/4000\/664\/0\/75\/0\/7e382d0_ftp-import-images-1-oiezs5ddvx6q-5295283-01-06.jpg 664w, https:\/\/img.lemde.fr\/2025\/03\/12\/0\/0\/6000\/4000\/700\/0\/75\/0\/7e382d0_ftp-import-images-1-oiezs5ddvx6q-5295283-01-06.jpg 700w, https:\/\/img.lemde.fr\/2025\/03\/12\/0\/0\/6000\/4000\/800\/0\/75\/0\/7e382d0_ftp-import-images-1-oiezs5ddvx6q-5295283-01-06.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1024px) 556px, 100vw\" alt=\"Des d\u00e9put\u00e9s europ\u00e9ens participent \u00e0 une s\u00e9ance de vote lors d\u2019une session pl\u00e9ni\u00e8re au Pparlement europ\u00e9en \u00e0 Strasbourg, le 12\u00a0mars 2025.\" width=\"664\" height=\"443\"><\/source><\/picture> <noscript> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lemde.fr\/2025\/03\/12\/0\/0\/6000\/4000\/664\/0\/75\/0\/7e382d0_ftp-import-images-1-oiezs5ddvx6q-5295283-01-06.jpg\" alt=\"MEPs participated in a voting session during a plenary session in the European pparlement in Strasbourg on March 12, 2025.\"\/> <\/noscript><figcaption class=\"article__legend\" aria-hidden=\"true\">MEPs participated in a voting session during a plenary session in the European pparlement in Strasbourg on March 12, 2025.  <span class=\"article__credit\" aria-hidden=\"true\">Frederick Florin \/ AFP<\/span>  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph \">After the &#8220;Qatargate&#8221;, the European Parliament is shaken by a new affair: the Belgian police led Thursday, March 13, around twenty searches in Belgium in an investigation for corruption within the European institution. <em>&#8220;Several people&#8221;<\/em> were arrested to be interviewed, according to the federal prosecutor&#8217;s office, which also reports a search in Portugal. The operation mobilized a hundred police in the three regions of Belgium, Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph \">After <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lesoir.be\/661270\/article\/2025-03-13\/nouveaux-soupcons-de-corruption-au-parlement-europeen-des-lobbyistes-lies-huawei\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Nouvelle fen\u00eatre\"><em>The evening<\/em><\/a>  And <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rtbf.be\/article\/nouveaux-soupcons-de-corruption-au-parlement-europeen-l-entreprise-chinoise-huawei-aurait-elle-depasse-les-limites-du-lobbying-11515837\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Nouvelle fen\u00eatre\">RTBF<\/a>the survey targets practices since 2021 lobbyists linked to the Chinese telecommunications group Huawei. Solicited by the France-Presse agency (AFP), the group did not immediately respond.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph \"><em>&#8220;Corruption would have been practiced regularly and very discreetly from 2021 to date, under the guise of commercial lobbying and taking different forms, such as remuneration for political positions or even disproportionate gifts such as food, travel costs, or regular invitations to football matches&#8221;<\/em>explains the federal prosecution. It was <em>&#8220;Promote purely private commercial interests within the framework of political decisions&#8221;<\/em>it is recalled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph \">At the heart of the investigation is an ex-parliamentary assistant employed as director of public affairs at the Huawei Brussels office, according to Belgian media. <em>The evening<\/em> Affirms that several lobbyists have been arrested in order to be presented to the investigating judge who pilot the investigations, and that a fifteen MEPs are in the investigators&#8217; radar. No MEP, however, is among the people arrested on Thursday morning, a police source told AFP.<\/p>\n<section class=\"catcher catcher--favoris\">\n<div class=\"catcher__content\"><span class=\"catcher__title catcher__title--hide\">Read also |<\/span><span class=\"catcher__desc\">  <span class=\"icon__premium\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Article reserved for our subscribers<\/span><\/span>    &#8220;Qatargate&#8221;: the investigation of the Swiss prosecution &#8220;suspended&#8221; for the benefit of French and American surveys <\/span> <\/div>\n<p> <button class=\"lmd-btn-icon lmd-btn-icon--primary lmd-btn-icon--m js-lmd-dropdown-favorite-toggler\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-haspopup=\"true\" aria-controls=\"lmd-dropdown-favorite\" aria-label=\"Lire plus tard\" data-article-id=\"3413796\" data-position=\"lire aussi\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.lemonde.fr\/societe\/article\/2025\/03\/12\/qatargate-l-enquete-du-parquet-suisse-suspendue-au-profit-des-enquetes-francaise-et-americaine_6579715_3224.html\" data-status=\"\"> <span class=\"icon__favorites\"\/> <span class=\"js-btn-icon-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\">Read later<\/span> <\/button> <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<h2 class=\"article__sub-title\">&#8220;Active corruption&#8221; as part of a &#8220;criminal organization&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph \">The investigation aims at facts of &#8220;active corruption within the European Parliament&#8221; as well as &#8220;false and use of false&#8221;, all within the framework of a <em>&#8220;Criminal organization&#8221;<\/em>adds the federal prosecution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph \">Payments and other heritage advantages have been hidden <em>&#8220;In financial flows related to conference costs, and paid to various intermediaries&#8221;<\/em>adds the prosecution, which says that they also try to detect any facts of money laundering. <em>&#8220;Several documents and objects have been entered and must be the subject of in -depth analyzes&#8221;<\/em>he adds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph \">It is the second time in less than three years that the European Parliament, the only elected institution of the European Union, has been splashed by a corruption scandal. In the &#8220;Qatargate&#8221;, the Belgian justice has been investigating since 2022 on facts involving several MEPs or ex-socialist European-deputies suspected of having been corrupted by two foreign powers, Qatar and Morocco. The two countries, which are suspected of having made gifts or payments in cash in order to smooth their image in terms of human rights, have always denied firmly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph \">Solicited by AFP, the European Parliament said Thursday morning <em>&#8220;Take note&#8221;<\/em> of the new survey, and promised to <em>&#8220;Cooperate fully&#8221;<\/em>according to a spokesperson.<\/p>\n<section class=\"catcher catcher--favoris\">\n<div class=\"catcher__content\"><span class=\"catcher__title catcher__title--hide\">Read also |<\/span><span class=\"catcher__desc\">  <span class=\"icon__premium\"><span class=\"sr-only\">Article reserved for our subscribers<\/span><\/span>    After &#8220;Qatargate&#8221;, the anti -corruption rules adopted in emergency in the European Parliament remain insufficient <\/span> <\/div>\n<p> <button class=\"lmd-btn-icon lmd-btn-icon--primary lmd-btn-icon--m js-lmd-dropdown-favorite-toggler\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-haspopup=\"true\" aria-controls=\"lmd-dropdown-favorite\" aria-label=\"Lire plus tard\" data-article-id=\"3356903\" data-position=\"lire aussi\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.lemonde.fr\/les-decodeurs\/article\/2024\/02\/01\/apres-le-qatargate-les-regles-anticorruption-adoptees-en-urgence-au-parlement-europeen-restent-insuffisantes_6214256_4355770.html\" data-status=\"\"> <span class=\"icon__favorites\"\/> <span class=\"js-btn-icon-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\">Read later<\/span> <\/button> <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"author\">\n<p class=\"author__detail\">  <span class=\"author__name\">The world with AFP<\/span>  <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"article__reactions\">                      Reuse this content   <\/section>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\">Tm-En-1<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MEPs participated in a voting session during a plenary session in the European pparlement in Strasbourg on March 12, 2025. Frederick Florin \/ AFP After the &#8220;Qatargate&#8221;, the European Parliament is shaken by a new affair: the Belgian police led Thursday, March 13, around twenty searches in Belgium in an investigation for corruption within the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":105822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1851,3843,853,2311,9799,7014,784],"class_list":["post-105821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-belgium","tag-corruption","tag-european","tag-parliament","tag-portugal","tag-searches","tag-survey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}