European skeptics call for an investigation into corruption scandals for the AP from Patriotic Patriots.

The committee will address allegations of corruption, money laundering, and abuse of power.

Jordan Bardella, the leader of the Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament, called for the establishment of an investigative committee on transparency and accountability to other Members of Parliament (MEPs) following recent corruption scandals, including an alleged influence peddling investigation involving the Chinese tech giant Huawei. In an email made public by Daniel Freund (Germany/Greens), Bardella claimed that such a committee could address allegations of "corruption, money laundering, abuse of power, irregular interference in legislative processes" and other violations of the rule of law in EU institutions. This call came after the recent scandal in which five people were charged in a corruption investigation linked to Huawei, which Belgian prosecutors suspect of bribing MEPs to support the company's business policies in Europe. Huawei stated in a previous announcement that it has taken a "zero-tolerance stance against corruption," is "fully committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations," and will "urgently communicate" with investigators. In 2019, the European Parliament was rocked by an ongoing scandal involving allegations that officials, lobbyists, and their families engaged in corruption and money laundering activities influenced by the governments of Qatar, Morocco, and Mauritania. In his email, Bardella stated, "EU institutions must operate with full transparency and accountability, and the rule of law must be upheld by all EU institutions and agencies." Last month, Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally (RN) party in the French parliament, was found guilty by a court in Paris of embezzling public funds and was banned from running for office for five years, effective immediately. Bardella was elected RN president in 2022. MEPs have until April 23 to support Bardella's initiative. Following a proposal from the Conference of Presidents, composed of leaders of political groups, the European Parliament will decide whether to establish a committee and, if so, how many members it will have. Pro-European centrist groups are effectively working together to enforce a cordon sanitaire to reject senior positions like chairmanships or vice-presidencies of parliamentary committees for right-wing groups. As a result of this practice, despite the Patriots achieving good results in the elections held last June and becoming the third-largest group in Parliament, they were unable to secure senior positions. The Patriots were contacted for comment.