European Union has a ‘design flaw’ says expert

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The European Union’s pledge to ban all Qatari officials from the EU Parliament premises has sparked major backlash from Qatar, which has threatened to retaliate with a new energy war. The EU’s Parliament is facing a major investigation into bribery after Belgian police raids uncovered €1.5million in residences and offices linked to Qatar. The EU’s decision to expel all Qatari officials from the premises of the institution has angered the energy-rich Gulf state.

A statement from a Qatari diplomat said: “The decision to impose such a discriminatory restriction that limits dialogue and cooperation on Qatar before the legal process has ended, will negatively affect regional and global security cooperation, as well as ongoing discussions around global energy poverty and security.

“We firmly reject the allegations associating our government with misconduct.

“Qatar was not the only party named in the investigation, yet our country has been exclusively criticised and attacked.

“We have observed this week’s selective condemnation of our country with great alarm.

“It is deeply disappointing that the Belgian government made no effort to engage with our government to establish the facts once they became aware of the allegations.”

The statement highlighted the “close” relationship with Belgium.

“Our nations cooperated during the Covid-19 pandemic and Qatar is an important supplier of LNG to Belgium,” it insisted.

Belgian prosecutors said they had been investigating EU parliament corruption for more than a year before the raids and arrests of the past two weeks.

Qatar said it believes it has been unfairly singled out, as MEPs have been accusing the Gulf country of human rights violations after it emerged more than 6,000 migrants died while building World Cup stadiums. 

The statement continued: “The decision to exclusively ban representatives from a single nation at the EU Parliament demonstrates that MEPs have been significantly misled. 

“It is unfortunate that some acted on preconceived prejudices against Qatar and made their judgments based on the inaccurate information in the leaks rather than waiting for the investigation to conclude.”

It remains unclear how Qatar’s energy threat will affect the EU’s campaign to cleanse itself from corruption and bribery. The bloc has scrambled to find alternative sources of energy, as it tries to wean itself off Russian gas amid Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine. 

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According to European Commission figures, overall imports of Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) represented just under five percent of the EU’s gas imports so far this year. 

But the EU’s energy imports from Qatar is set to grow due to a mega-expansion of its LNG production capacity, with two major projects due to be completed in 2026 and 2027. 

Last month, Germany signed a 15-year gas contract with state-owned QatarEnergy and the US firm ConocoPhillips, guaranteeing two million metric tonnes of LNG annually starting from 2026.

In September, France signed a new $1.5billion deal to help expand Qatar’s natural gas production. Italy’s Eni energy provider also holds a stake in Qatar’s LNG project.

Terminating these contracts could send the EU’s energy security into chaos, raising questions about whether European Parliament will deliver on its promise to impose new transparency rules to stem bribery and corruption.

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