News of socialist grifting in Spain has now reverberated over the Pyrenees, prompting Brussels to take notice of the scandal.
High ranking members of the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) are under investigation for a €20 million corruption scandal following the purchase of facemasks at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020. The case implicates both members of the former Pedro Sánchez government and several ministries in his current government. Approximately €18 million of the money spent on possibly illegal commissions came from European Union funds.
This marks a subtle shift in the priorities of the European Parliament (EP), where typically the conservative governments of EU member states are singled out for corruption and ‘rule-of-law’ investigations for ideological reasons
At the latest plenary session of the EP, the chamber stated its “great concern” about the “alleged misuse” of the money. It claimed that the cash came from the Solidarity Fund and from rural development and regional development funds—two long-standing cash reserves supposed to be passed on to citizens of EU member states to support entrepreneurs and local development initiatives. The plenary also criticized the Spanish authorities for not immediately reporting suspicions of corruption to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), explaining that the EPPO received “relevant” information to investigate the case from an individual and not from the hands of the competent authorities in Spain.
The possible corruption was discovered by the Spanish anti-corruption office and is being investigated by the Civil Guard, one of Spain’s law enforcement authorities. EU member states are required to report any suspicions of embezzlement of EU funds to the EPPO.
The text also asks the Commission to be more careful in its oversight of emergency purchases, to add “multi-step verification” to emergency purchases made with EU funds in crisis situations, and to bring in outside auditors when it appears the member state is not able to adequately audit the use of the funds. It recalls that corruption scandals from the COVID-19 pandemic have occurred in other EU member states besides Spain. El Debate reports that Brussels had audited the process of the mask purchases but had not detected any irregularities.
The admonishment came in an amendment to the Parliament’s annual report on the management of spending by the European Commission, inserted by the European People’s Party (EPP). The report with the amendment passed last Thursday, with 367 votes in favor, 230 against and 10 abstentions.
Since the corruption case became known publicly in Spain, the EPPO has undertaken its own investigation, according to El Debate .
