Resoconto integrale delle discussioni

Martedì 15 febbraio 2022 - Strasburgo

15. Corruzione e diritti umani (discussione)

  Der Präsident. – Als nächster Punkt der Tagesordnung folgt die Aussprache über den Bericht von Katalin Cseh im Namen des Ausschusses für auswärtige Angelegenheiten über eine Empfehlung des Europäischen Parlaments an den Rat und den Vizepräsidenten der Kommission / Hohen Vertreter der Union für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik zu Korruption und Menschenrechten (2021/2066(INI)) (A9-0012/2022).

Ich erinnere die Mitglieder daran, dass bei allen Aussprachen dieser Tagung weder spontane Wortmeldungen noch blaue Karten akzeptiert werden.

Außerdem sind, wie auch bei den letzten Tagungen, Zuschaltungen aus den Verbindungsbüros des Parlaments in den Mitgliedstaaten vorgesehen.

Ich weise Sie auch darauf hin, dass Wortmeldungen im Plenarsaal weiterhin vom zentralen Rednerpult aus erfolgen. Ich ersuche Sie daher, die Rednerliste im Blick zu behalten und sich kurz vor Beginn Ihrer Redezeit zum Rednerpult zu begeben.

  Katalin Cseh, rapporteur. – Mr President, with this report an overwhelming majority of Parliament makes it clear that the European Union needs to stand up against authoritarians and the way to do this is to go after their money. This demand has never been as important as today when Vladimir Putin’s Russia is on the brink of invading Ukraine and we have to face it.

Putin has spent 20 years freely stashing his money in the West, and now he feels like he can do anything. We need to show him and the other authoritarian criminals that this is not the case and he cannot. Because just think about what’s happening here – authoritarian regimes are robbing their own people, squeezing resources from them, trashing their human rights and then they take this money to buy luxury property in Italy or art in Paris or company assets in Frankfurt. And when a journalist writes about it, then expensive lawyers just show up to muzzle them.

All this is profoundly immoral – immoral and against everything Europe stands for. This is also a slap in the face for those people who suffer from authoritarian repression and, yes, also a slap in the face for every Ukrainian who is terrified of a devastating war.

But we have real power here. We have real leverage because Putin relies on access to Europe. He needs to keep his oligarchs happy with their yacht parties in our ports and their money stashed in our banks. We need to use this leverage now.

So, in this report, we call for a more effective sanctions framework against oligarchs. We also call for stricter due diligence and transparency in sectors such as finance and real estate – because let’s face it, this is where shady money finds their way into the legitimate economy. And we also call for financial support and legal protection for activists, whistleblowers and journalists who are our strongest allies in this fight and who should never be silenced or intimidated by autocrats and the oligarchs who they investigate. We have to use our leverage and we have to purge tainted money out of the EU once and for all.

So, let’s face it, there is a very clear divide emerging in this Parliament. The pro-European centre wants to stand up against the growing influence of Russia or China, while the far right, unfortunately led by the Orbáns, the Le Pens and the Salvinis are actively blocking it.

Hungary’s Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó, for instance, he keeps saying that the EU should lift even the existing sanctions regime on Russia and that sanctions don’t work. Well, I have to say this is the only way to show that actually they do work because no surprise that Putin’s Trojan horses are campaigning against them. Opaque business dealings can always count in the background. So we are calling for the EU to very thoroughly monitor this. We have to look into the financial ties between the Kremlin and the far-right parties, and we have to scrutinise large-scale investment projects financed by Moscow or Beijing.

Russia, for instance, is building a nuclear power plant in Hungary, a EUR 12.5 billion project awarded without a public tender. China is involved in a grand railway construction project and in the building of the Fudan University’s Budapest Campus. Billions of euros and the terms and conditions of these projects are classified for decades. No means to scrutinise how this money is being spent and the oligarchs connected to the Prime Minister are carving out their own slice.

For most of the time, the EU has been passively watching on the sidelines, watching this creeping influence, despite repeated warnings about security risks that might be entailed. So it’s time to put an end to this. This set of recommendations shows a clear way how.

  Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of the Commission. – Mr President, Honourable Members, corruption affects nearly all aspects of our society. It undermines the respect of human rights, the rule of law, democracy and growth. It represents the opposite of what we stand for as Europeans.

And it has a cost. The cost of corruption is immense. It is estimated from 2—5% of global GDP. Corruption represents a structural obstacle to the full enjoyment and respect of human rights. Let us think, for example, the right to health. With the COVID pandemic straining all our resources and our healthcare systems, corrupt practices may divert crucial resources from hospitals and healthcare professionals, but also corruption affects disproportionately vulnerable groups and persons.

For us in the European Union, the fight against corruption is synonymous to the model of society we represent, and your report rightfully refers to the link between internal and external coherence, which is indeed crucial for the credibility of our action. Within the EU, the Commission is systematically monitoring anti—corruption measures in all Member States within the framework of the rule-of-law mechanism and the prevention of corruption is also key in the post—pandemic recovery and resilience plans of our Member States. Our European Public Prosecutor’s Office can investigate and prosecute all perpetrators of criminal offences affecting the budget of the European Union, and they know that.

At the global level, the Union is a party to the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and supports actively its universalisation. It is also one of the conventions that GSP+ beneficiary countries need to ratify and effectively implement. The fight against corruption and the protection of human rights are cross—cutting and mutually reinforcing elements in our external action. The EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2024 includes concrete anti—corruption actions, which we are also implementing on the ground.

A few examples, an EU/Council of Europe Horizontal Facility II, we contribute to the order of EUR 35 million to increase compliance of enlargement countries with European standards and EU acquis, including in the areas of rule of law and fight against corruption. And, additionally, our human rights dialogues are opportunities to discuss issues related to corruption and its negative impact on the universal respect of human rights.

EU anti—corruption support to third countries follows a holistic and human—rights—based approach, with a view to tackling links between corruption, human rights and the improvement of transparency, the fighting against impunity, the strengthening of the anti—corruption agencies and the support of the investigative capacity and justice reform, as well as international judicial cooperation.

Just to give you an example of this multi—layered approach, only in Nigeria we are actively involved in a project of EUR 25 million to promote the rule of law and fight corruption. We are now engaged in a safe and enabling environment for civil society that has a crucial role to play as an actor against corruption. We protect whistleblowers and provide support to national human rights institutions, human rights defenders and journalists at risk. They are all our valuable allies in exposing corruption and corporate abuse. Honourable Members, this is a fight in which Europe has a lead and this is a fight that Europe is determined to win.

(Die Aussprache wird unterbrochen.)