The European Parliament’s black book

What does it take to get in trouble with the European Parliament? 

The institution has a long list of rules governing how elected officials should go about their work, treat their staff, deal with lobbyists and cash paychecks. 

Since lawmakers took up their seats in July 2019, 13 have violated the Parliament’s rules enough to be punished by its president. POLITICO combed the institution’s archives to pull together reports of offenses, which range from harassing staff to failing to properly report support from the Chinese government to, well, stripping on the chamber floor.

Here’s who made it into the Parliament’s black book for misbehavior, in order of severity:

Monica Semedo

What happened: In perhaps the most extensive violation of the chamber’s rules, Monica Semedo, an MEP from Luxembourg’s liberal Democratic Party, was subject to a 10-month investigation into how she treated her staff, resulting in a dossier of more than 100 pages detailing complaints about her management style. The allegations included “countless offenses, insults, aggressive treatment, intimidation and attacks in public” by Semedo, an official from the Parliament president’s office told POLITICO in January 2021.

The offense: Semedo was penalized “as a result of her behavior towards her accredited parliamentary assistants, which constituted psychological harassment.”

The penalty: Semedo got a 15-day suspension from parliamentary activities (except votes) and lost her daily allowance during that period (which could have amounted to up to €4,860, depending on how many days she showed up for work).

Semedo’s take: She told POLITICO she “never intended to hurt or humiliate” her former staff, to whom she offered her apologies, in a statement after the penalties were imposed. She said her “zeal and dynamism” had transformed her office into “a tough work environment.”

Angelo Ciocca

Ioannis Lagos

What happened: Greek neo-Nazi MEP and cofounder of the ultranationalist Golden Dawn party Ioannis Lagos took the floor in January 2020 to vent against migrant minorities in Greece. Pulling out a printout of the Turkish flag, he shouted, “What can you do with this flag? Well, here you go, you can tear it up.” 

Offense: “Using abusive language and brandishing and then tearing up a piece of paper symbolising a national flag.”

Penalty: Lagos lost seven days of allowance (up to €2,268) and was suspended from Parliament activities for four working days.

Ioannis Lagos (again)

What happened: Clearly unimpressed with Parliament’s earlier sanction, Lagos called in September 2020 for the “immediate expulsion of all illegal immigrants and NGOs” from the EU’s Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. He accused NGOs of inciting “uprising and revolution” in the camp.

Offense: “Having disrupted the sitting … by using abusive language.”

Penalty: Lagos — again — lost seven days of allowance (up to €2,268) and was suspended from Parliament activities (except votes) for four working days. In an unrelated case, Lagos was arrested in April 2021 after the Parliament overwhelmingly voted to lift his immunity, following a Greek court ruling that found him and the rest of Golden Dawn’s top brass guilty of running a criminal organization.

Lagos’ take: The penalties “prove without any doubt the attempts to gag my free speech,” Lagos, who’s imprisoned in Greece, said via email. He said he “submitted and presented all the evidence” for what he said on the chamber’s floor, and said about being penalized, “If this is a sign of democracy, judge for yourself.”

Ivan Vilibor Sinčić

The COVID certificate rebels

What happened: Six members of the chamber were penalized in December 2021 for refusing to show an EU digital COVID certificate when entering Parliament buildings. The group included MEPs from left to right on the political spectrum: Christine Anderson (from the far-right Alternative for Germany), Clare Daly (from the left-wing Irish party Independents 4 Change), Stasys Jakeliūnas (a Lithuanian Green), Mislav Kolakušić (an independent politician from Croatia), Cristian Terheş (a Romanian Christian Democrat) and Mick Wallace (also from the Independents 4 Change).  

Offense: Compromising “the smooth conduct of parliamentary business” or “the maintenance of security.”

Penalty: The penalties ranged from the loss of seven days of allowance (up to €2,268) to a “reprimand” — also known as a slap on the wrist.

The rebels’ take: Some, like Daly, accepted the penalty but stressed Parliament needed to hold a debate over the digital passes. Others were less accommodating. Terheş said his job was not “to please bullies with tyrannical attitudes, like [Parliament President] David Sassoli.” Jakeliūnas said he did not trust the certificate and wanted Parliament to probe both the origins of the virus and censorship in the scientific debate.

Jan Zahradil

Jan Zahradil (again)

What happened: In addition to his ties to the Vietnamese government, Zahradil got himself in hot water regarding support from China. POLITICO reported that the Chinese Mission to the European Union had paid for drinks and snacks at an October 2019 reception of the EU-China Friendship Group, an informal group of Beijing-friendly MEPs for which Zahradil acted as chairman. The Czech Conservative lawmaker had failed to properly report this Chinese sponsorship to the European Parliament. After the report, Zahradil suspended the group but was nonetheless sanctioned by Parliament in July 2021.

Offense: “Failing to respect the [Parliament’s] reporting requirements.”

Penalty: A reprimand.

Zahradil’s take: The MEP declined to comment for this article. He told Parliament in January 2021 that he strongly rejected “the suggestion that this group has served as a tool for Chinese propaganda, at least not under my lead.”

Manon Aubry

Pierre Larrouturou

Maïa de La Baume contributed reporting.