Zürcher Nachrichten - Huawei probe blunder sparks EU parliament rules change

EUR -
AED 4.317801
AFN 80.979844
ALL 97.610496
AMD 451.483654
ANG 2.103869
AOA 1077.973536
ARS 1479.465695
AUD 1.776779
AWG 2.118917
AZN 2.000015
BAM 1.957005
BBD 2.373671
BDT 143.719072
BGN 1.956779
BHD 0.443056
BIF 3503.971637
BMD 1.175544
BND 1.502031
BOB 8.124104
BRL 6.494993
BSD 1.175629
BTN 101.543933
BWP 15.711738
BYN 3.847384
BYR 23040.653776
BZD 2.361484
CAD 1.600168
CDF 3392.618829
CHF 0.933869
CLF 0.028431
CLP 1115.332118
CNY 8.416576
CNH 8.407905
COP 4751.323716
CRC 593.46781
CUC 1.175544
CUP 31.151904
CVE 110.333381
CZK 24.549461
DJF 209.141397
DKK 7.463932
DOP 71.33421
DZD 152.169837
EGP 57.671811
ERN 17.633153
ETB 162.154177
FJD 2.62817
FKP 0.866346
GBP 0.867493
GEL 3.185648
GGP 0.866346
GHS 12.285719
GIP 0.866346
GMD 84.638761
GNF 10199.321176
GTQ 9.022592
GYD 245.964532
HKD 9.227887
HNL 30.784079
HRK 7.537233
HTG 154.275615
HUF 397.940894
IDR 19154.247989
ILS 3.925393
IMP 0.866346
INR 101.551741
IQD 1540.054471
IRR 49505.078045
ISK 141.993868
JEP 0.866346
JMD 188.225855
JOD 0.833439
JPY 172.213016
KES 151.891991
KGS 102.628129
KHR 4710.91966
KMF 494.318453
KPW 1058.001156
KRW 1609.677651
KWD 0.358588
KYD 0.979707
KZT 638.122772
LAK 25342.922225
LBP 105337.180302
LKR 354.828401
LRD 235.718095
LSL 20.723844
LTL 3.471075
LVL 0.711075
LYD 6.344932
MAD 10.558944
MDL 19.768252
MGA 5183.25649
MKD 61.598176
MMK 2467.272975
MNT 4220.728197
MOP 9.505672
MRU 46.754977
MUR 53.193822
MVR 18.116892
MWK 2038.580781
MXN 21.820205
MYR 4.95551
MZN 75.187471
NAD 20.723844
NGN 1796.958933
NIO 43.266631
NOK 11.868923
NPR 162.470694
NZD 1.942341
OMR 0.451993
PAB 1.175639
PEN 4.180473
PGK 4.944064
PHP 66.592216
PKR 334.024096
PLN 4.255072
PYG 8805.457309
QAR 4.298364
RON 5.07076
RSD 117.126491
RUB 93.282205
RWF 1699.353199
SAR 4.410096
SBD 9.73949
SCR 17.003268
SDG 705.915065
SEK 11.179267
SGD 1.50094
SHP 0.923793
SLE 26.978394
SLL 24650.565321
SOS 671.91643
SRD 42.845082
STD 24331.378279
STN 24.515194
SVC 10.286375
SYP 15284.402596
SZL 20.706745
THB 37.94887
TJS 11.168617
TMT 4.126158
TND 3.426709
TOP 2.753244
TRY 47.56332
TTD 7.989952
TWD 34.513374
TZS 3027.024529
UAH 49.117841
UGX 4218.614547
USD 1.175544
UYU 47.019141
UZS 15004.29913
VES 141.386619
VND 30722.830941
VUV 140.8387
WST 3.231342
XAF 656.363791
XAG 0.030121
XAU 0.00035
XCD 3.176965
XCG 2.118804
XDR 0.814988
XOF 656.363791
XPF 119.331742
YER 283.247453
ZAR 20.685102
ZMK 10581.306424
ZMW 27.420227
ZWL 378.524547
  • CMSC

    0.0000

    22.43

    0%

  • NGG

    -0.0900

    72.52

    -0.12%

  • GSK

    -0.0750

    37.955

    -0.2%

  • BTI

    0.2650

    52.635

    +0.5%

  • RBGPF

    0.9700

    68

    +1.43%

  • RELX

    0.2850

    53.4

    +0.53%

  • AZN

    1.0500

    74.05

    +1.42%

  • BP

    -0.4200

    32.29

    -1.3%

  • RIO

    -0.5100

    64.11

    -0.8%

  • VOD

    0.3200

    11.62

    +2.75%

  • BCE

    -0.0350

    24.565

    -0.14%

  • SCS

    -0.0800

    10.605

    -0.75%

  • SCU

    0.0000

    12.72

    0%

  • JRI

    0.0000

    13.21

    0%

  • CMSD

    0.0000

    22.89

    0%

  • BCC

    -0.5900

    87.76

    -0.67%

  • RYCEF

    0.2000

    13.5

    +1.48%

Huawei probe blunder sparks EU parliament rules change
Huawei probe blunder sparks EU parliament rules change / Photo: Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD - AFP

Huawei probe blunder sparks EU parliament rules change

When European lawmaker Giusi Princi learnt she was sought by Belgian authorities over a graft investigation linked to Chinese tech giant Huawei in May, she was "dumbfounded".

Text size:

It soon turned out she had nothing to do with it -- in a mix-up that has undermined confidence in the probe and pushed the European Parliament to review its rules to better shield lawmakers from unfounded accusations.

"To this day I cannot understand how they could have made such a blatant mistake," Princi told AFP of Belgian prosecutors.

The Brussels prosecutor office did not reply to a request for comment.

Princi, 52, a member of late Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, was targeted by a request to lift her parliamentary immunity in mid-May, along with four other lawmakers.

Prosecutors alleged she attended a Brussels dinner with Huawei representatives seeking to curry favour among parliamentarians in June last year.

But on the day in question the Italian politician was yet to be formally appointed to the 27-nation bloc's assembly following European elections that month. She secured a seat only after another lawmaker renounced his.

Also, she was not in Belgium but in her native southern Calabria region, attending her daughter's Alice-in-Wonderland-themed end-of-year school play.

- No more 'tarnishing' -

Describing herself as "stubborn and pig-headed", Princi lawyered up, compiled an "almost 100-page long" dossier including geo-tagged photos of her daughter in a princess dress, and sent it to prosecutors.

Yet, her bid to get exonerated before things became public failed.

On May 21 EU parliament president Roberta Metsola named Princi among lawmakers targeted by authorities before a plenary sitting.

That was a step required by parliamentary procedure before the case could be passed to the committee on legal affairs, which is tasked to assess immunity waivers.

But the rules have since been revised, for, in an embarrassing about-face, prosecutors withdrew the request targeting Princi a day after she was publicly named.

"I will not accept the targeting and tarnishing of MEPs without a solid basis," Metsola told a press conference in late June, announcing the changes.

Her office said that going forward parliament will require requests to lift a lawmaker's immunity to include "essential elements" such as a clear description of the facts and the crime the accused is alleged to have committed.

"If the requests do not meet the minimum elements, the requesting authority will be asked to complement it" before any announcement is made, Metsola's office said.

Although brief, Princi said her involvement in the affair caused her a fair amount of stress during a few "days of hell" -- and dirty looks from colleagues.

- 'Question marks' -

The fiasco has fuelled a debate on whether Belgian authorities are best placed to investigate EU corruption.

Daniel Freund, a transparency campaigner turned lawmaker for Europe's Greens, is among those who would like the European Public Prosecutor's Office, which already probes the misuse of EU funds, to be tasked with such cases.

"I guess the Belgian taxpayer doesn't have a particular interest to dedicate a lot of resources to making sure that EU institutions are clean. But since EU institutions are located in Belgium, it somehow falls into their remit," he told AFP.

An earlier scandal over alleged bribery involving Qatar and Morocco, which erupted in 2022 when police raids in Brussels uncovered 1.5 million euros in cash at the homes of several lawmakers, is still weighed down in legal challenges with no trial in sight.

Were that to collapse, it "would seriously put into question the role of the Belgian judiciary," Freund said, adding "some question marks" also hung over the Huawei probe.

The Huawei scandal burst into the public in March when police staged raids in Belgium and Portugal.

Investigators suspect Huawei lobbyists of offering gifts, including meals and invitations to football matches to lawmakers who would defend its interests in Brussels.

Eight people have been charged on counts including corruption, money laundering and participating in a criminal organisation.

The four EU lawmakers named besides Princi have denied any wrongdoing.

A.Weber--NZN