European Parliament wrongly withheld files from Qatargate MEP, court rules
Eva Kaili took the EP to court after they refused to hand over documents
The EU’s General Court has overturned the European Parliament’s decision to withhold key documents from former Greek MEP Eva Kaili, in what is being hailed as a procedural victory for her.
Kaili, who was a vice-president of the Parliament at the time, was arrested in December 2022 on suspicion of corruption and money laundering as part of the Qatargate cash-for-influence scandal that rocked EU institutions.
The parliament had promptly stripped Kaili of her parliamentary immunity, effectively allowing prosecutors’ investigation to proceed.
Kaili went on the counter-attack, objecting to the lifting of her immunity and calling on the Parliament to grant her access to documents concerning her, citing the EU’s transparency regulations.
The documents include details related to the alleged misuse of parliamentary assistant allowances, as well as debit notes and letters sent to MEPs asking them to come forward with information about the case.
In July 2023, the EP turned down Kaili’s request, saying that releasing the documents could interfere with ongoing legal proceedings.
But on Wednesday, the EU General Court ruled that the EP had applied EU transparency rules incorrectly, effectively breaching Kaili’s judicial rights.
It also turned down the EP’s arguments that releasing the documents would hinder the case, arguing that the documents do not reveal “an internal position of the Parliament on the contentious issues raised in the case”.
Ultimately, the court said, “it cannot be held that access to the requested documents…would undermine the sound administration of justice in the case,” instructing the EP to hand the documents over to Kaili and pay all legal fees.