Dozens of police raids, the arrest of a sitting MEP, millions of euros stuffed in suitcases and hidden in apartments – the Qatargate scandal seemed ripped from a movie and shocked many. But not everyone. Nicholas Aiossa, Deputy Director of Transparency International – EU, told Speechbag there’s nothing surprising about the scandal, and that corruption and a lack of transparency have been “business as usual” for the Parliament.

For instance, there is still no oversight or transparency over how MEPs spend some €40 million in allowance money; lobbying by big corporations or countries is commonplace, again with little accountability.

So will the Parliament finally clean up its act? Does the recently announced 14-point plan have the teeth needed to curb the corruption and impunity in the EU’s “most democratic body”? Tune into the latest episode of the Speechbag podcast to find out.

Previously on Speechbag:

E01: Vax Pass, Anti-Vaxxers & Myth-Busting

E02: Ethnic Profiling, Discriminatory Policing, Framing

E03: The Legacy Of Daphne Caruana Galizia & What The EU Should Do To Protect Journalists, NGOs

E04: COVID-19 Tracing Apps: Germany’s Lessons For Europe (But Not What You’d Expect)

E05: Privacy, Propaganda And The Future Of Online Advertising

E06: Countering Smear Campaigns And Protecting Civic Space

E07: Do Mandatory Vaccinations Violate Human Rights?

E08: 'We Must Not Feed Our Inner Putin'

E09: The Secret Meetings, Lobbying, and 'Horse Trading' of EU Lawmaking

E10: EU’s Big Step To Rein In Big Tech — And What Comes Next

E11: Born In Italy – But Never Italian?