After the European Parliament, will Qatargate shake up the European Commission? The question arises after the revelation, last week, of trips offered by Qatar to a senior official of the European executive, Henrik Hololei. According to Politicothe director general of the Commission’s transport unit, Henrik Hololei, flew for free on Qatar Airways on nine occasions between 2015 and 2021, while his team was closely involved in the negotiation of an air transport agreement between the EU and Qatar.
This agreement is not negligible. Qatar is the 15th market outside the EU in the field of aviation, with 6.3 million passengers. The agreement aims to ensure “fair competition”, but also financial transparency, attention to social issues and environmental standards in air services between the two parties for air links between the EU and Asia.
This timing therefore challenged the European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, responsible for investigating cases of maladministration within the Union. In a letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, made public on Monday, she stresses that such business trips are particularly scrutinized after suspicions of corruption hanging over MEPs linked to Qatar. “I have already noted in my correspondence with the European Parliament that such a scandal is a gift for those who wish to undermine or denigrate the whole of the EU,” she stressed.
Possible conflict of interest
Emily O’Reilly also criticized the Commission’s defence, which denies any conflict of interest, arguing that Henrik Hololei was not part of the negotiating team with Qatar. “The public may not make that distinction, given that the CEO ultimately bears responsibility for those negotiations,” she recalled.
The EU Ombudsman said she wanted answers to her questions by June 3, including on transparency, the process for authorizing such travel and any travel undertaken by other EU officials and paid for by some thirds.
The European Commission announced on Friday that it was reviewing its rules around the financing of missions abroad for its staff. “We will tighten the rules for missions in order to later clarify such situations and to limit the possibilities of accepting flights at the expense of a third party, another organization and to clarify in which precise case this remains acceptable,” said the spokesperson.