The Socialists & Democrats group on Monday expelled European Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili with “immediate effect,” after suspending her three days ago following her arrest in a corruption probe.
The party has also demanded that Kaili be removed from the office of vice president during this week’s plenary session in Strasbourg. She was suspended from that role following her arrest on Friday on suspicion of alleged “criminal organization, corruption and money laundering.”
Kaili is shadow rapporteur for the Cyber Resilience Act. The responsibility for reassigning rapporteurs lies with the coordinators, said Jaume Guillot, chief spokesperson for the Parliament.
Kaili’s shadow rapporteur position is “a more informal arrangement within the group,” so there is no need to validate the decision on such an appointment with either the coordinators or the other committee members, Guillot told POLITICO.
Other members suspended themselves from the S&D group or stepped back from their parliamentary roles.
Belgian MEP Marie Arena said she will temporarily stand aside as chair of the European Parliament’s subcommittee on human rights, which is caught up in the Qatar corruption scandal. Police searched the office of Arena’s parliamentary aide in the probe.
Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella — whose home was raided Saturday night — said he “decided to step aside within the S&D group.” Tarabella also stood down from the Parliament’s delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula.
Other S&D members with less direct connections to the case also stepped back. Italian MEP Pietro Bartolo stepped down as shadow rapporteur on visa liberalization. Italian MEP Andrea Cozzolino stepped down as S&D coordinator.