What a rollercoaster week for the European Parliament! The institution, which represents 450 million citizens, is shaken by the worst corruption scandal of its existence. Its now ex-vice-president, the elected Greek socialist Eva Kaili, is sleeping in prison, after having been – literally – caught in bags of tickets presumably of Qatari origin.
The danger to the institution’s reputation is real. And yet, paradoxically and incredible irony of the calendar, the MEPs snatched at the same time an equally historic victory against Hungary, precisely on the scourge of corruption.
For the first time, the Member States of the European Union agree to financially sanction one of their own. More than 6 billion euros of European funds intended for Budapest are frozen because of breaches of the rule of law, which have notably enabled the entourage of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to capture community subsidies in recent years.
The stubbornness of the elected representatives of Strasbourg allowed this decision, certain political groups having downright left hanging the threat of a motion of censure from the European Commission if the latter did not act. Orban had to undertake to carry out reforms whose implementation will be watched, he who a few hours earlier made fun of the setbacks of the Strasbourg assembly… It is now up to the latter to adopt stronger ethical rules , under penalty of seeing its balance sheet sadly eclipsed.