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Belgian authorities have asked the European Parliament to waive the immunity of five of its members, Parliament’s president Roberta Metsola announced at the beginning of a plenary session in Brussels on Wednesday.
The request relates to the ongoing investigation into alleged corruption and illicit lobbying practices involving Chinese company Huawei and some EU lawmakers and assistants.
Three of the five MEPs involved belong to the center-right European People’s Party: the Italians Salvatore De Meo, Giusi Princi and Fulvio Martusciello. The others are the Maltese Socialist MEP Daniel Attard and the Bulgarian Renew Europe’s MEP Nikola Minchev.
In a previous statement to Euronews, Martusciello denied corruption, stating that he had only fleetingly met Huawei lobbyists, and that he and his staff never attended the firm’s offices.
De Meo anticipated his inclusion in the list telling Italian news agency Ansa: “In my case, [the request] is linked to my participation in a convivial meeting, not organised by Huawei, which took place outside the European Parliament and which was also attended by representatives of the Huawei group.”
He claimed he has never taken a position in favour of Huawei, either by signing letters, presenting amendments or any legislative activity attributable to the company’s interests.
Attard said on his Facebook page that the request related to his presence at a football match between Belgian team Anderlecht and Hungarian team Ferencváros last September.
“I was not made aware that the invitation originated from any company, or that it involved a corporate box. I was simply informed by my assistant that a friend of his had tickets to the match […] It has since emerged that the invitation came from a person who is currently under investigation by the Belgian authorities and who intended to speak to me about Huawei during the match,” wrote the Maltese MEP.
The topic was briefly raised during the game, reads the post, and a meeting was subsequently requested, which took place two weeks later in Strasbourg.
Attard stated he has not communicated with the company since, and took “no action” in relation to it or matters related to the company, and he wrote to President Metsola to formally ask for his immunity to be waived.
Attendance at an Anderlecht football match (Anderlecht-Ludogorets last October) was behind the request for Bulgarian MEP Minchev, he said in a statement to the Bulgarian press agency BTA.
“I will cooperate one hundred percent and I will ask the EP to lift the immunity as quickly as possible, because I have no connection to any illegal activity of these people, nor anything to worry about,” he said.
Each request for waiver will be now be assigned to a rapporteur on the European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI), whose next meeting is foreseen for 4-5 June.
The JURI Committee will prepare a report approving or rejecting the request by the Belgian prosecutor, while each MEP concerned will be given an opportunity to be heard, and may present any documents or other written evidence.
The Parliament’s plenary will have the final say, deciding whether to lift or not the MEP’s immunity with a vote by simple majority.
None of the five MEPs replied to requests for comment from Euronews.
