Yesterday the way was opened for lifting the immunity of two Greek MEPs, Alexis Georgoulis And her Eva Kyliethrough its special meetings its Legal Affairs Committee European Parliament (YURI).

For his former MEP SYRIZAin accordance with the relevant procedure of the committee under consideration, only yesterday a rapporteur was appointed from the European People’s Party, the Pole Andrzej Halicki, who undertakes to prepare a relevant case in order to study in a short time – it seems – they submitted a request for lifting immunity to the Belgian authorities, since with respect to he is being investigated for “serious criminal offences”.

After all, Mr. Georgoulis himself asked to expedite the process so that his lawyers would have access to the case file, since this will not happen if his immunity is not lifted.

In the meantime, in a separate meeting, the JURI committee yesterday also considered the related takedown request. Immunity for Eve Kyliefiled by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) at the end of December in connection with alleged fraud in relation to the budget of the European Parliament. However, the committee in question will meet again to make a recommendation to the plenary of the European Parliament on whether Ms Kylie’s immunity should be lifted.

The case is related to the administration of her parliamentary compensation and the remuneration of her MEP accredited aides and is unrelated to the Qatari corruption case, which leaves a Greek MEP under house arrest under electronic surveillance. Moreover, in the same investigation, the European Prosecutor’s Office requested the lifting of immunity and Maria Spiraki.

File leak

For Maria Spirakis, there seems to be no evidence that she received pay cuts or false compensation.

However, prior to yesterday’s meeting, relevant case files were leaked to Politico, a first in the annals of the committee in question. In fact, its rapporteur reportedly called the event “an unprecedented scandal”, given the confidentiality that characterizes the institutional procedures of the European Parliament.

The publication, citing a letter from the European Prosecutor’s Office to the President of the European Parliament, said that the investigation of Ms Kylie focused on three possible criminal acts of her between 2014 and 2020: firstly, on the fact that she misled the European Parliament regarding the place and the content of their partnerships. Secondly, whether he received part of their reimbursement for the “virtual” trips he allegedly organized. And third, whether he took “commissions” on part of their wages. The materials of the investigation cited by the publication say that the 44-year-old politician allegedly owes the European Parliament “about 100,000 euros.”

Through her own lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulou denies that the investigations carried out by the competent authorities led to “kickbacks”, and even speaks of slander. At the same time, she leaves sharp points against “certain forces” – without naming them – from “purely political motives”, which, in her words, “seeing that the charges against me are collapsing in a well-known case (cf. Qatargate), they are trying to criminalize permanent administrative procedures of the European Parliament”.

In the shared folder

As for Maria Spirakis, whose case is in the same case of the European Prosecutor’s Office, the details of the case file referred to by Politico indicate that investigators accuse her of misleading the European Parliament about the activities of her associates and violations against them. “virtual trips”. “, but there is no evidence that the Greek MEP took kickbacks from his salary or false compensation. There was no such category initially. she remembers talking to “K” and is now waiting for the removal of immunity in order to close the case once and for all.

Questions are raised by the fact that the European prosecutor’s office is conducting the cases of Kailis and Spirakis in a joint dossier. It should be noted that the request of the European Prosecutor’s Office was filed in December last year, and in order to remove the immunity from two MEPs in January, it was necessary to adopt an appropriate amendment at the plenary session of the European Parliament. Prior to this, relevant investigations into unlawful acts in relation to the management of MEPs’ parliamentary compensation or the remuneration of their accredited parliamentary assistants were carried out as part of the administrative procedures in the European Parliament.