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For once, the European Parliament won’t be the sideshow.
A corruption scandal has inflamed the Parliament just as EU leaders gather on Thursday for one of their regular summits. And the explosive revelations — bags of cash, possible influence peddling involving Qatar and Morocco — have reversed the script.
Normally, when EU leaders get together, the Parliament president attends, and barely anyone notices. The appearance is typically brief. The press conference is sparsely attended.
Not this time.
Parliament President Roberta Metsola will arrive at the European Council Thursday morning to a sea of cameras, as the media continues to chronicle the allegations swarming around the EU’s popularly elected body. She is due to update the EU’s 27 national leaders on the troubling details that have caused at least one MEP to be arrested on suspicions of corruption.
But for most EU leaders, it’s a case of “not my problem.”
“Really this is an issue for the Parliament,” said one European Council official. “We expect to get a debrief from Metsola, but nothing more.”
The European Council’s instinct to try and sidestep malfeasance allegations at the heart of the EU could be self-defeating — and store up problems for the EU in the long term.
“The potential reputational damage here can be immense,” Petros Fassoulas, secretary general of the pro-EU organization European Movement International, told POLITICO. “Most people don’t distinguish between one institution or another. The issue is that once you put the word corruption next to any European institution, people automatically associate the EU with the act of corruption.”
Looming in the distance is the 2024 European elections — the once-every-five-years exercise that is the nearest thing the EU has to a bloc-wide election.
The European elections have traditionally been a place for anti-EU forces to make their voices heard. Indeed, some of the EU’s biggest critics — Britain’s Nigel Farage and France’s Marine Le Pen come to mind — have grabbed attention in the European Parliament before moving home to spread their Euroskeptic message further.
Now there is a fear that the Qatar scandal, which has rocked Parliament, could discredit the institution even more.
“This scandal risks playing straight into the hands of anti-European, anti-democratic forces,” Fassoulas said. “It’s vital that the EU gets ahead of this, especially in light of the European elections in 2024.”
Apart from Metsola’s scheduled debrief to EU leaders Thursday morning, no further discussion of the scandal is on the official agenda for Thursday’s gathering. One diplomat said that the leaders’ response may depend on what she has to say.
EU leaders have also plenty of other issues to discuss.
Deep divisions have emerged over the European Commission’s plan to counter packages of U.S. subsidies they worry are luring investments away from Europe, countries still can’t agree on how (and whether) to cap gas prices, and Romania and Bulgaria remain incensed they’ve not been allowed into the Schengen free-travel zone.
Additionally, there were last-minute hiccups on a multi-layered deal to unlock €18 billion in aid for Ukraine and finalize a minimum corporate tax rate, after Poland blocked the proposal late Wednesday.
But in reality, the harsh spotlight being shed on the EU’s relationship with Qatar could be uncomfortable for many countries, especially as calls come to reassess lucrative aviation agreements with Doha.
Several EU members have also upped their reliance on the Gulf state for energy as they seek to wean off Russian gas. In recent weeks, German firms struck a 15-year deal to buy liquified natural gas from Qatar. And on Wednesday, Hungary announced that energy group MVM would begin talks with QatarEnergy about buying LNG gas.
Asked if the allegations about possible cash-for-influence infiltrating Parliament should cause the EU to reassess other commercial interests with Qatar, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sidestepped the question on Wednesday, keeping the focus on the specificities of the ongoing Belgian case.
“What needs to be reviewed is which accusations are to be made against those who are now confronted with the accusation of having been bribed, and of course this also applies to those who were on the other side, meaning those who bribed,” he told reporters in Brussels.
Scholz’s economy minister, Robert Habeck, explicitly argued on Tuesday evening that the unfolding discoveries shouldn’t alter his country’s gas-purchasing plans.
“These are two different things,” Habeck said.
Not all EU leaders want to duck the issue, however.
Arriving at an EU summit with southeast Asian countries on Wednesday, Irish leader Micheál Martin said the public was “shocked” at what had transpired, and he called for the establishment of an EU-wide body to police the institutions, including Parliament.
“The whole idea of an overseeing body to ensure compliance and adherence to ethics is required,” he said. “Obviously, due process has to take place but nonetheless, people must have confidence in European Union institutions, and particularly the European Union Parliament, because it has increased its powers over the years.”
Other leaders echoed a view that many Parliament members espoused this week — that the corruption allegations don’t point to a systemic problem, only a few bad apples. Speaking in Brussels Wednesday, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas conceded that the revelations were damaging “not only to the European Union but also to European politicians.”
“I must confirm and say we are not all like this,” she added, noting that having these cases out in public may help prevent them in the future.
Roberta Metsola
Roberta Metsola | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Metsola in 2022 | |
| President of the European Parliament | |
| Assumed office 18 January 2022 Acting: 11–18 January 2022 | |
| Vice President | Othmar Karas |
| Preceded by | David Sassoli |
| First Vice-President of the European Parliament | |
| In office 12 November 2020 – 18 January 2022 | |
| President | David Sassoli |
| Preceded by | Mairead McGuinness |
| Succeeded by | Othmar Karas |
| Member of the European Parliament for Malta | |
| Assumed office 24 April 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Simon Busuttil |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Roberta Tedesco Triccas[1] 18 January 1979 St. Julian's, Malta |
| Political party | Nationalist Party |
| Other political affiliations | European People's Party |
| Spouse | Ukko Metsola (m. 2005) |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | University of Malta College of Europe |
Roberta Metsola (Maltese: [ɹɔˈbɝta ˈmɛtsɔla]; née Tedesco Triccas; born 18 January 1979) is a Maltese politician serving as President of the European Parliament since January 2022.[2]
Metsola was first elected to as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 2013, and became the First Vice-President of the European Parliament in November 2020.[3] Following the death of the incumbent President David Sassoli, Metsola was elected as President of the European Parliament on 18 January 2022,[2] becoming the youngest ever President,[4] the first Maltese person to hold the office, and the first female President since 2002.[5]
Biography[edit]
The Tedesco Triccas family stems from Swieqi[6][7] near St. Julian's, Malta, and Roberta grew up with her father Geoffrey (son of Emmanuel Tedesco and Helen Triccas Dimech), her mother Rita (daughter of Carmelo Bezzina and Francesca Briffa) and her two sisters Ann and Lisa[8] in Gżira.[9] She studied at St Joseph School in Sliema, St Aloysius' College sixth form, and she graduated in law from the University of Malta in 2003[9] and obtained a diploma in European studies from the College of Europe in Bruges in 2004.[10]
Roberta Tedesco Triccas and her Finnish husband Ukko Metsola (National Coalition Party) met in 1999 and married in Rabat, Malta, on 1 October 2005.[11] Together, they have four sons: Luca Matias (born 2007), Alec Emil (born 2008), Marc (born 2012) and Kristian (born 2016).[12] They both ran for the 2009 European Parliament election, becoming the first married couple to run in the same European Parliament election from two different member states.[13]
Metsola has been active since youth within Malta's Partit Nazzjonalista (PN), serving within the party's international secretariat and volunteering with the PN's election arm ELCOM.[14][6] In her student years, Metsola formed part of the SDM (Studenti Demokristjani Maltin), KNZ (The National Youth Council) and MŻPN (Moviment Żgħażagħ Partit Nazzjonalista), before being elected as Secretary General of the European Democrat Students (EDS), the student branch of the EPP, as well as to posts within the European Youth Forum (YFJ).[6][14]
In 2002, at 23 years, she was elected as one of the two vice-presidents of the executive board of the Youth Convention on the Future of Europe,[15] and the following year she actively campaigned with the PN for a Yes vote in the 2003 EU membership referendum.[10]
Following her engagement in the EU referendum campaign, 25-year-old Metsola was encouraged by Malta's Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi[6] to run for the 2004 European elections as a candidate for the Nationalist Party.[9] She was not elected.
In October 2004 Metsola joined the Permanent Representation of Malta to the European Union in Brussels, headed by Richard Cachia Caruana, where she worked for 8 years as legal and judicial cooperation attaché, also participating for Malta in the negotiations of the Lisbon Treaty and working on files such as the set-up of the European Asylum Support Office in Malta.[10][14]
She ran again for the 2009 European elections,[16] without being elected.[17]
In 2013-2014 Metsola briefly served as legal advisor to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton.[18]
Member of the European Parliament[edit]
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On 24 April 2013 Metsola successfully contested the casual election to fill the vacated seat of Simon Busuttil, becoming one of Malta's first female Members of the European Parliament.[19] In the Parliament, she sits as a member of the European People's Party Group (EPP).[20]
Following her re-election at the 2014 elections, Metsola was elected as a vice-chair of the Committee on Petitions (PETI) in July 2014.[21] In addition, she served as a member of a number of committees and delegations.[22] She also joined the parliamentary intergroup on children's rights.[23] Metsola was further re-elected at the 2019 elections; in this legislature she has followed closely the party line, voting together with the EPP delegation in over 90% of the cases.[18]
In 2014 Metsola led the EPP representation in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) in the work on the non-binding EU roadmap against homophobia and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, whose rapporteur was Green MEP Ulrike Lunacek.[24] She was also the parliament's rapporteur on the European Border and Coastguard Regulation in 2019 and was co-rapporteur on an anti-SLAPP report in 2021.[10]
Metsola also co-authored a non-binding report on the European migrant crisis in 2016, aimed at establishing a "binding and mandatory legislative approach" on resettlement and new EU-wide "readmission" agreements which should take precedence over bilateral ones between EU and non-EU countries.[25]
From 2016 until 2017, Metsola was part of the Parliament's Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion (PANA) that investigated the Panama Papers revelations and tax avoidance schemes more broadly.[22]
Within LIBE, where she chaired the EPP representation between January 2017 and 2020,[10] she has been part of the Rule of Law Monitoring Group (ROLMG) since 2018.[26]
In 2019, during the controversies following the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, she famously refused to shake hands with Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat at a meeting with the Members of European Parliament from Malta. "If he thinks he can try to brush off responsibility he is sorely mistaken. Get out now, before you do irreparable damage to the country", she wrote.[10] In 2020 Metsola considered contesting the leadership of Partit Nazzjonalista, but finally decided against it. "Some ceilings need a few more cracks before they can be smashed through", she stated. The post was later filled by Bernard Grech.[10]
In October 2020, in the discussion in LIBE on a parliamentary resolution on "the rule of law and fundamental rights in Bulgaria",[27][28] Metsola tabled amendments[29] on behalf of the EPP which were widely interpreted as shielding Bulgaria's EPP government from criticism, including by proposing to remove references to Venice Commission findings and to the misuse of EU funds and high-level corruption allegations directly involving Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. Other amendments, which she later withdrew, also alleged that a gambling boss had been financing the street protest movement. This caused outrage in Bulgaria, leading to Metsola's social media accounts being flooded by protest messages, including threats and misogyny.[30][31] The EPP amendments were finally defeated, and the resolution was adopted as it had been originally proposed.[32]
In November 2020, Metsola was elected as First Vice-President of the European Parliament, replacing Mairead McGuinness, who had become European Commissioner. She was the first Maltese MEP to become a vice-president.[33]
President of the European Parliament[edit]
In November 2021, Metsola was chosen as EPP candidate to succeed David Sassoli as President of the European Parliament on the expiry of his term as president in January 2022.[34] Sassoli had been hospitalised with pneumonia in September 2021[35] and in December announced that he would not seek a second term as president, making Metsola his likely successor.[36] Following further hospitalisation, Sassoli died on 11 January 2022,[37] one week before the end of his term.[35] On Sassoli's death, Metsola became the acting President of the European Parliament.[38]
On 18 January 2022, on her 43rd birthday, Metsola was elected President of the European Parliament for a two-and-a-half-year term. She was elected in the first round of voting, receiving an absolute majority of 458 votes out of the 690 cast.[2] As the candidate of the EPP, she was also supported by the S&D and Renew Europe parliamentary groups, after the three groups reached an agreement on the election of the President and the vice-presidents and legislative priorities for the second half of the Parliament's term.[39] On her election, Metsola became the youngest ever President,[4] the first Maltese person to hold the office, and the first woman President since 2002 (and only third woman president ever).[5] The subject made a statement days after being present as Belgian police searched the residence of Greek MEP Eva Kaili in the widening investigation of members of the European parliament over alleged corruption, money laundering and other offenses in relation to possible schemes of Qatar, Morocco, NGOs and the FIFA World Cup.[40][41]
Anti-abortion views[edit]
Metsola had consistently voted for anti-abortion resolutions,[42] and from the beginning of her tenure, she faced questions over her opposition to abortion, which is legal in every EU member state, except Malta and Poland.[43] She once said in a 2015 statement that she was "categorically against abortion."[44] On her election as President of the European Parliament, she stated that during her tenure, she will represent the Parliament's position, which recognises safe access to abortion as a human right.[45]
Metsola has called for strengthening the powers of the European Parliament.[46]
DEAD END WAS GUARANTEED TO ME AS A OUTCOME BY SEVERAL BRITISH PHYSICIANS AND PRINCE CHARLES BACK IN 2017 - A FUNNY GERMAN COMEDY FULL OF HOPE AND CURSE - THE DRAMA WRITTEN BY HOUSE OF SAXE COBURG GOTHA WINDSOR THAT REPEATED ITSELF YET AGAIN - I call it a simple Euro guide as per what is expected of average "European"(IT REALLY IS A GERMAN NEONAZISM ALL OVER AGAIN - RELOADED)...
BRITISH EVALUATED AND REPEATEDLY ESTIMATED WHAT WOULD AND SHOULD WITH CERTAINITY RESULT INn.png)
GUARANTEED IN MY FACE DEATH ALREADY 6 MONTHS ACCORDING TO PRINCE CHARLES AND HIS PHYSICIANS BEFORE THE END OF THE ORDEAL EXPIRATION DATE http://ausertimes.blogspot.com/2023/01/prince-charlesnow-king-bagged-out-loud.html - THESE BRITISH PHYSICIANS REPEATED ME(ONE INDIVIDUAL WHO ALSO REMINDED ON AMERICAN NEIGHBOR NEXT DOOR FROM MIAMI BEACH WITH EXTRA WEIGHT AND PERHAPS EVEN A BEARD WAS ENTHUSIAST WHO WORKED ON MENTIONED PROJECT FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS AHEAD OF AS POINTED OUT HERE) WHAT THEY CLAIMED WERE RESULTS OBTAINED BASED ON PROVIDED FOOD USED UNDER MK ULTRA AND WHICH I WOULD HAVE TO DEAL WITH IN REAL TIME - HAVE ESTABLISHED THROUGH EVALUATION CIRCUS IN MY FACE WHICH WENT ON UNDER MK ULTRA FOR AT LEAST FIVE IF NOT MORE YEARS(SINCE 2011) HOW CONNECTING CANCERn.png)
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@KING CHARLES, PRINCE WILLIAM, PRINCE HARRY, ANDREW - HOPE AND NOT DEATH(forget about hate) FOR HUMANITY !!! AM I RIGHT !!????
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Tuesday, December 27, 2022
- HERE IS HOW MK ULTRA CRIME WORKS OR PREDICTABLE VIOLENCE HIDING BEHIND ACCENTED "SLOVENIAN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE" ISSUES AKH AKHHHAKAKAHHH CHEER https://ausertimes.blogspot.com/2022/12/here-is-how-mk-ultra-crime-works-or.html
- The goal is to NOT destroy completely, but drive insane https://ausertimes.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-goal-is-not-to-destroy-completely.html
- @UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND BRITISH LONDON(1-800LONDONCABAL) - ARE YOU GETTING READY TO AGAIN MURDER SOMEONE SIGNIFICANT IN LONDON OR WASHINGTON DC. !!??????? https://ausertimes.blogspot.com/2022/12/united-states-of-america-and-british.html
- All clear to me why Norwegian(was not only Britons from London) king delivered me to psychiatric hospital Ljubljana Polje during EVEN my attempts to file for asylum in Norway and in Sweden(2010) https://ausertimes.blogspot.com/2022/12/all-clear-to-me-why-norwegianwas-not.html
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CRIME AGAINST ME IS AT THIS STAGE COMPLETE - 1-800 LONDON CABAL(FINACIERS OF VIOLENT SHITHEADS) DIDN'T EXERCISE ANY OTHER SIGNIFCANT MK ULTRA RELATED CRIMES BEYOND CAR MOLD
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