In February 2020, the Central Chief Prosecution Office of Investigation pressed charges against two leaders of a Northern Hungarian district office for corruption offences. The officials had requested a bribe of four million forints from the director of a company involved in a highway construction project to unlawfully influence the land office procedure in the second half of 2018.

In his interview with Richard Quest, Péter Szijjártó asked the rhetorical question: ‘Do you think all this would be possible if there were systemic corruption? Because if there is systemic corruption, there is no growth, investors do not come, and they do not bring their money here.’

The immunity of two more MEPs has been suspended as Antonio Panzeri, one of the main suspects in the Qatargate scandal, agreed to cooperate with the investigation as part of a plea deal to reduce his sentence.

In response to the Qatargate scandal in the European Parliament, EU Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly urged the EP to strengthen its ethics committee.

Transparency International has just published their CPI report for 2022, as they have done annually since 1995. The rankings might surprise some, however, many perceive the published information as facts, although there are many issues with Transparency’s index.

The real danger is not posed by those who would like to embellish public opinion of themselves with bribes, but the external and internal powers that can easily dictate to EU policymakers.

Fidesz MEP Balázs Hidvéghi discussed the corruption in Brussels, double standards, and why he recommends that the EP adopt the Hungarian asset declaration system.

The corruption scandals of the EP make the lack of accountability of EU institutions visible for European citizens, contributing to increased disappointment with the system as it is today.

The EU’s most recent corruption scandal—the second within a short period of time—is a reminder of the lack of accountability and popular oversight of Brussels.

After being postponed due to the emerging global Covid pandemic and held under strange circumstances without spectators amidst political tension and the Covid hysteria fuelled by the media, a growing corruption scandal is now further tainting the troubled legacy of the Tokyo Olympics.

As the European Commission threatens Hungary with withholding billions of EU funds, Ursula von der Leyen’s own corruption scandal around the controversial Pfizer deal is growing. Double standards seem to be at the very core of the EU.

A new anti-corruption authority, in unison with a separate task force, will work to weed out any and all corrupt dealings that harm the financial interests of the EU budget.

In an exclusive presentation at MCC, Minister Tibor Navracsics addressed the question of the EU Recovery Funds, as well as the current state of the negotiations between Brussels and Budapest.

The most recent leaks to The Guardian reveal how Uber organised secret meetings, lobbied politicians and paid academics to promote its business. The scandal has reached several high ranking politicians from Emmanuel Macron to Joe Biden.