European Parliament: In February 2020, Eva Kaili, senior vice-president of the European Parliament, was at the five-star Ritz Carlton hotel in the Qatari capital Doha, leading a discussion on social media giants and democracy.
Today Kaili is in prison embroiled in a high-octane corruption scandal engulfing the EU establishment in Brussels, in which Qatar – but also Morocco – are accused of paying MEPs for influence the work of Parliament.
The conference did not come out of nowhere. Its seeds were sown about two years ago, when then-MP Pier Antonio Panzeri, the alleged ringleader of the corruption scheme, signed a semi-official cooperation agreement with an organization linked to the Qatari government.
POLITICO has now obtained the document, after first reporting its existence last month, and notes:
The shadow deal
The pact, which Panzeri signed as head of the parliament’s human rights subcommittee, linked the EU body to Qatar’s human rights committee. He promised “closer cooperation” between the two sides, citing annual “projects” and the exchange of “experiences and expertise”.
At the same time, he laid the groundwork for years of cooperation, including conferences and lawmakers’ trips to Doha, with Qatar covering business class flights and stays in luxury hotels.
However, it should be noted that the agreement does not officially exist, according to the Parliament. The memo was never submitted to lawmakers for review — although Panzeri said he would — nor did it pass through official approval channels.
“The European Parliament has no official knowledge of the document you are referring to,” a Parliament press officer told POLITICO.
And yet there is…
However, the document exists, illustrating how a foreign country was able to establish meaningful links with EU lawmakers and a committee of the European Parliament without ever formally becoming an official document.
“It’s problematic,” said Monika Hollmeier, a center-right European People’s Party (EPP) MEP who heads the budget control committee. “It shows that we need to be much more aware of what is going on. »
“It’s extraordinary,” marveled someone familiar with the workings of the human rights commission (called DROI).
Qatar has always maintained that it rejects any allegation of undue interference in the work of the EU.
Document signing
Panzeri signed the agreement on April 26, 2018, during a DROI committee meeting in Brussels with Ali bin Samikh Al Marri, who chaired Qatar’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The NHRC states on its website that it enjoys “complete independence” from the Qatari government.
Addressing a handful of MEPs in a largely empty room, Al Marri claimed the Qatari government had made “tremendous progress” in human rights reforms, despite admitting that was still not enough. He accused Saudi Arabia and other Gulf neighbors of imposing what he called ‘collective sanctions’ amid a diplomatic standoff that had led to ‘human rights abuses’ .
At the end of the hour-long committee meeting, Panzeri made a brief reference to a “consultation and cooperation document that we will sign today and provide to members of the DROI subcommittee.” But they never received it.
“That never happened,” said Petras Auštrevičius, a liberal Lithuanian MEP who at the time led his group’s human rights work. Two former MEPs with coordinating roles on the committee, Barbara Lochbihler and Marie-Christine Vergiat, also said they had no recollection of such an agreement.
Auštrevičius added that even the decision to invite Al Marri to speak to the committee that day was not signed by his fellow MPs, as is common practice.
“It seems that the [Panzeri] president decided to invite [Al Marri] after a recent private visit to Qatar, which I was not aware of,” Auštrevičius said.
The trip to Qatar
Indeed, on the day the agreement was signed, Panzeri returned to Brussels after a trip to Qatar with his parliamentary assistant, Francesco Giorgi.
During the trip, Panzeri met with then-Prime Minister of Qatar Abdullah Bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, his human rights counterpart Al Marri and hailed Qatar’s labor reforms ahead of the World Cup. football, according to media uploaded by Panzeri.
Al Marri would later become Qatar’s labor minister as global criticism grows over Doha’s treatment of migrant workers building World Cup stadiums.
Giorgi, Panzeri’s assistant, will later be detained along with his boss and Kaili. All three are accused of corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization.
They are still looking for it
Nearly five years later, parliamentary officials are wondering how such an agreement could have been signed. Even the signature itself is shrouded in mystery.
According to the Parliament’s press services, the agreement was signed in Panzeri’s office. But a photo of the signing shows a member of European Parliament staff present, as well as the official flags of the EU and Qatar.
And a second person familiar with the committee’s work said the signing took place in one of parliament’s official protocol rooms, which are usually used by foreign delegations.
The text of the agreement itself is unclear.
“It was decided to continue bilateral activity through consultation and cooperation agreement between the two parties,” reads the same side of document A4.
“This agreement”, he adds, “aims to regulate and facilitate relations between the CNDH and the DROI by promoting closer cooperation, a bilateral exchange of expertise, information and contacts in the field of rights of man”.
The Panzeri “mission” in Doha
In 2019, a year after the conclusion of “this agreement”, Qatar co-hosted its first conference in Doha in partnership with the Parliament, or at least with the logo of the Parliament plastered everywhere. Subject: Fight against impunity.
At the conference, Panzeri hailed Qatar as a “benchmark” for global human rights standards. A Gulf Times article reported that Panzeri said the conference was a direct result of the 2019 agreement. Later, “fighting impunity” would even become Panzeri’s namesake NGO cause.
Then came the 2020 conference, held in Doha on February 16-17 and apparently co-hosted with the European Parliament. The new theme: “Social media, the challenges and means of promoting freedoms and protecting activists”.
Parliament’s press officer denied the event was co-hosted, saying it was ‘not an institutional event, but we still need to consider how they could use the [Parliament] logo “.
The 300 participants benefited from business class flights paid for by the Qataris, as well as accommodation at the Ritz Carlton hotel and dinner at the National Museum of Qatar to close the conference.
Kylie wasn’t the only high-profile European politician. As she finished her duties, Kaili thanked Panzeri for “arranging this delegation”.
Panzeri – who left parliament in 2019 – sat in the front row next to his now jailed aide Giorgi.
Also present was Socialist and Democrat (S&D) MP Marc Tarabella, who was arrested last week as police widened the investigation. Belgian prosecutors suspect Tarabella took up to €140,000 in cash from Panzeri to influence EU work in Qatar.
Tarabella’s lawyer, Maxim Töller, denied that Panzeri organized the trip: “It’s not Mr. Panzeri. … Well, he was on a trip.
Tarabella only revealed the subsidized trip last month, years after Parliament’s deadline. Tarabella made several excuses for the late statement, including that he thought it was no longer possible. More generally, he claimed his innocence in the corruption investigation.
Two other EU lawmakers present at the event – S&D member Alessandra Moretti and EPP member Cristian-Silviu Bușoi – had also not announced their subsidized attendance until the corruption probe came to light.
“It was an event sponsored by the European Parliament, so the Parliament was aware of the event and of my participation,” said Moretti. “In the spirit of complete transparency, I have decided to publish it. He denied being part of a delegation set up by the Panzeri.
Bushoi, who led the parliament’s unofficial “friendship group” with Qatar, said: “The 2020 event was announced later due to a staff error.” He also denied being part of any delegation orchestrated by the Panzeri.
After Panzeri left parliament in 2019, S&D MP Maria Arena replaced him on the DROI committee.
In January, he told POLITICO he had not pursued the Panzeri deal. The lectures, however, continued.
In addition to the 2020 event, Arena then traveled to Qatar in 2022 with the honor of Doha for an NHRC workshop. He eventually resigned as chairman of the committee after POLITICO revealed Arena failed to report the subsidized trip in a timely manner. Arena did not respond to a request for comment for this piece.
And despite all the confusion surrounding the deal, one thing is clear: for Qatar, it never ceased to exist.
“The relationship with the European Parliament is of the utmost importance to us,” Al Marri wrote in May 2021 to two MEPs, including Arena.
His proof? “The memorandum of understanding that we signed with the human rights
source: moroccomail
