«There have been leaks and abuses on Qatargate. This is how I will intervene»- Corriere.it

Roberta Metsola would never have imagined turning the mark one year ago president of the European Parliament like this: in the midst of the worst scandal in the history of the institution and now also of a controversy over 140 gifts received in your office and assigned by you to Parliament’s registers. She didn’t take them home: she left them there. But the discussions arose because she, a Maltese, 43, with four young children, elected for the popular party after the disappearance of David Sassoli, initially said she had returned those gifts to the senders.

It is yet another sign of a certain fragility of the institution, at least in the eyes of those who know it less. Metsola knows he has to prove more and he tries: «Contrary to what is usual and due, I publicly declared (those gifts, ed) – he says during a break from the meetings of the World Economic Forum in Davos -. I made that decision, the responsibility is mine. Everything that was received was received by Parliament, but I made sure it was in my name because I wanted to take this responsibility myself.”

The scandals remain, the real ones: the bribes found in the house of the Greek socialist MEP Eva Kaili, the repentance of the former Italian socialist MEP Antonio Panzeri, the involvement of Qatar and Morocco. Serious, very serious. But for now we are talking about a few million euros and yet the foundations of the building on Place du Luxembourg to Brussels they tremble. Meanwhile in the United States it is discovered that the former cryptocurrency guru Sam Bankman-Fried had illegally paid nearly 200 million dollars to members of Congress – before failing – yet no one in Washington seems particularly shaken. A sign that we are insecure in Europe, because deep down we feel that the legitimacy of the Brussels institutions is always limited and on trial? Metsola doesn’t shy away from it, on the contrary: «When the scandal broke, last December 9, I had to choose. I could tell that it is an issue that I have inherited and that it happens all the time. I could let time pass, without taking measures (anti-corruption, ed)» points out the president of the European Parliament. “But I’m not that kind of political figure – he continues -. I always try to understand when there are open questions, challenges or gaps. And I try to deal with them.” Then the dig at the American Congress: “I think that every speaker of every democratically elected Parliament should do the same”.

This policy of assuming personal responsibility, even if it is ostentatious, is back in metsola even when asked if the scandal will fill the sails of theeuroscepticism. “There will always be people like this, political movements like this – he says – and it’s part of reality: there are people who look at Europe as an entity that doesn’t understand them. Personally, I am for a policy capable of speaking a language that citizens understand. If not, then the responsibility is mine. As president – continues Metsola – I undertake to reform a European Parliament in which there are gaps to addresswhere clarity must be increased and openness must be demanded: this is what I will carry forward until 2024″.

Avoid passing the buck, sticking to the opposite pole of Hillary Clinton’s famous gaffe about “deplorable” supporters of Donald Trump, for Metsola it is not just a policy. It is also a style, which works and projects it into star system of the Brussels bubble. Certainly she does not let her guard down, smells traps and instinctively avoids gaffes. For example, when you are asked whether to see Qatar willing to bribe for a declaration by the European Parliament, not just for an act of law, you basically demonstrate the strength of your institution. «One can use this argument, of course – replies Metsola, on guard -. We have seen that the Parliament can be a very visible and effective legislator, a beacon of democracy, the rule of lawor. What I don’t want is for allegations of corruption, attributed to a small number of people, to cast a gloomy light on a hard-working institution. And to fix this situation we need to close the loopholes, tighten the rules and address the abuses. I will also work to ensure that the positive work we do is seen, understood, communicated and concretely felt by the voters”.