Prime Minister Robert Abela has expressed scepticism about Roberta Metsola’s pledge to reform the European Parliament following a corruption scandal.

“Whether or not an institution that is a product of certain systems is suited to reform those systems remains to be seen,” Abela said on the fringes of a European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday.

“Metsola described the situation as an “attack on the European Parliament”. One has to see whether it really was an attack on the parliament, or the result of untransparent practices that have been going on for several years, and which all MEPs enjoyed,” Abela said.

The European Parliament has come under intense scrutiny in recent days after Belgian authorities charged four people, including EP vice president and Greek MEP Eva Kaili, with having taken bribes from World Cup hosts Qatar.

Kaili was allegedly caught red-handed with thousands of euros in cash. Belgian police have also searched the homes and offices of politicians, lobbyists and parliamentary assistants, seizing around €1.5 million in cash in total.

The European Parliament has since stripped Kaili of her vice presidency and announced a plan to strengthen the parliament's whistle-blower protection systems, ban all "unofficial friendship groups" and review the policing of code of conduct rules.

Metsola later said she would lead changes, which are to include "a complete and in-depth look at how we interact with third countries", and that the package would be ready "in the new year".

Her plan has been welcomed by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who told reporters that she “very much looked forward” to working with Metsola to implement it, and European Council president Charles Michel, who praised the Maltese MEP for “how quickly she got to grips with the situation.”

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, whose country holds the presidency of the EU Council, said he has “full confidence in the European Parliament president and her approach.”

All three, however, acknowledged that the corruption scandal had severely dented the European Parliament’s credibility. “We have to work hard to regain it,” von der Leyen said.

Abela, however, spoke less enthusiastically about the EP president’s plan, saying earlier on Thursday that he believed Metsola had “acted too quickly” and should have instead allowed “institutions to do their work” first.

Greek MEP Eva Kaili is under investigation for bribery and corruption. Photo: AFP

The Maltese prime minister, who hails from the opposite side of the political spectrum to Metsola, also noted that Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo had spoken critically of the EP.

De Croo told reporters that Belgium’s Department of justice “is doing what the European Parliament has failed to do,” adding that it appeared the parliament’s “system of self-checking has not been enough."

Metsola has previously said that the EP cooperated with Belgian authorities to ensure IT systems were secured and offices sealed.

Scandal surrounding the European Parliament widened on Thursday, when the European Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that it was also investigating Kaili and fellow Greek MEP Maria Spyraki for misuse of parliamentary allowances and the payment of parliamentary assistants.

Prosecutor Laura Kovesi's office said that the EPPO investigation was triggered by a report from the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). It has now written to Metsola, asking her to schedule a vote for MEPs to vote to strip Kaili and Spyraki - a former 'MEP of the Year' - of their parliamentary immunity.

News that Spyraki was under investigation left Metsola's political grouping, the EPP, with egg on its face, Politico reported on Friday, given that Spyraki is an EPP representative.

Hours earlier, the EPP had sought to paint the scandal as a Socialist & Democrat problem, noting that Kaili was an S&D MEP and demanding that other top S&D officials implicated in the scandal should resign.  

In a statement on Friday, the Nationalist Party referred to the Prime Minister's comments saying they continued to uncover Abela's intentions not to fight corruption and defence the corrupt.

And in a tweet, MEP David Casa said the Prime Minister would do well to take a leaf out of Metsola's book if he is serious about ending impunity in Malta.