BRUSSELS — The European Union’s center of power is reeling from a fresh corruption scandal involving Chinese technology giant Huawei and the European Parliament.
Investigators are probing allegations of “active corruption within the European Parliament,” Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office said Thursday, later adding that “the alleged bribery is said to have benefited Huawei.”
The case has echoes of the 2022 Qatargate corruption scandal, which saw several members of the legislature arrested and investigated. It breathes new life into longstanding concerns over shady lobbying practices in Brussels — this time with a controversial Chinese tech firm at the center of the affair.
Dutch investigative news outlet Follow The Money and Belgian publications Le Soir and Knack were the first to report on the news.
Here’s what we know about the case so far, based on information from Belgian federal public prosecutors and conversations with more than two dozen EU and industry officials impacted by the scandal:
What are the allegations?
The new investigation zones in on Huawei, the Chinese technology giant that was once a lobbying powerhouse in Europe, as well as on the Parliament.
Incidents that are being investigated include “remuneration for taking political positions, excessive gifts like food and travel expenses and regular invitations to football matches … with a view to promoting purely private commercial interests in the context of political decisions,” Belgian prosecutors said in a statement.
They said the alleged misconduct took place “regularly and very discreetly from 2021 to the present day.”
Police raided 21 addresses in Brussels, Flanders, Wallonia and in Portugal and arrested several people.
According to Follow The Money, Le Soir and Knack, investigators are looking into activities linked to 15 former and current MEPs. The publications said one senior lobbyist from Huawei in Brussels was a key suspect. POLITICO has not independently verified the information.
Two people working in the building of Huawei’s main lobbying office for the European Union in Brussels told POLITICO they had seen police officers enter on Thursday morning and added they were still on the premises at noon. Police officers later left Huawei’s Brussels offices carrying four boxes with documents and various seized materials.
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What has Huawei said?
The company on Thursday scrambled to respond to the development. A spokesperson said in a statement: “Huawei takes these allegations seriously and will urgently communicate with the investigation to further understand the situation. Huawei has a zero tolerance policy towards corruption or other wrongdoing, and we are committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations at all times.”
What’s happening at the Parliament?
The prosecutor’s office announced on Thursday afternoon it had “requested that seals be affixed to the premises of the European Parliament, more specifically to the offices allocated to two parliamentary assistants allegedly involved.”
One door to offices that are part of the Italian delegation in the European People’s Party (EPP) was later marked with signs declaring “SCELLES JUDICIAIRES” and “Absolutely forbidden to open this door,” and sealed with blue and white police tape.
The second sealed office, part of the Bulgarian delegation in the Renew Europe group, belonged to Adam Mouchtar, a long-time official and current assistant to newly elected MEP Nikola Minchev. Mouchtar was also co-founder of a group called EU40 that had as its president Greek politician Eva Kaili — a key figure in the Qatargate corruption probe.
Mouchtar confirmed to POLITICO that his office had been sealed but denied any wrongdoing. His boss, Minchev, announced on Friday he had suspended Mouchtar from his duties.
The other sealed office did not have the customary name tags at the door. Parliamentary records indicated that the office belonged to the assistants of long-time Italian conservative MEP Fulvio Martusciello and his party peer Marco Falcone. It is unclear which of the assistants and MEPs would be impacted by the investigation.
Contacted, Martusciello said the office sealed “is not mine” but declined to provide more information, including whether it belonged to any of his assistants. Falcone and his assistants did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment. Falcone told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera: “Neither of my two assistants is involved nor the intern who arrived 15 days ago. We have never had contact with Huawei and our parliamentary activity in these nine months [since the start of the term] has never involved this sector.”
How does Huawei lobby in Brussels?
Throughout most of the 2010s, Huawei poured millions of euros into lobbyists and PR campaigns in Europe and was considered a friendly face cuddling up to power.
The company threw lavish parties in glamorous venues featuring fancy buffets and dance performances — like its reception celebrating the Chinese new year at the Concert Noble in Brussels — and was known for thanking contacts with generous gift bags, some including a Huawei phone.
From 2019 onward, the stakes increased. The company tried to stave off a push to reduce the reliance of Western countries on its 5G equipment over security and espionage concerns.
To navigate the geopolitical storm, the firm offered six-figure salaries to former Western journalists and politicians with direct lines to places of power like the Elysée and Westminster.
In the past two years Huawei has lost much of its clout in Brussels, as the mood against Chinese tech firms turned and European governments aligned on taking a more cautious approach to using Huawei’s 5G equipment in their networks. At the EU level, the European Commission in 2023 announced moves to block it and ZTE from EU research funding and to stop contracting operators using Chinese equipment.
The firm’s Brussels office also saw departures by lobbyists and communications officials.
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According to EU transparency register data, Huawei Technologies spent between €2 million and €2.25 million on EU lobbying in 2021, 2022 and 2023 — a lot, but still below its lobbying costs in preceding years, which were estimated at around €3 million in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
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Huawei in October declared it had 11 full-time EU lobbyists, nine of whom were accredited to access the European Parliament. At its peak it declared 21.
Huawei also listed as intermediaries Acento Public Affairs, Hill & Knowlton International Belgium, and MUST & Partners. Acento and Alber & Geiger also served as Huawei’s intermediaries the year before, with Huawei declaring representation costs of €200,000 and €600,000, respectively.
Has Huawei faced investigations before?
Huawei has been embroiled in scandals and investigations in several countries across the globe, including in France, where it faced a case involving a former minister and member of the European Parliament, Le Soir wrote last week.
The Parliament is no stranger to Huawei’s troubles with authorities. In May 2023 Parliament President Roberta Metsola said in a letter seen by POLITICO that the house’s safety department had contacted the Belgian authorities to acquire information “with regard to potential threats posed by Huawei’s activities in Belgium and, in particular, the risks for the European Parliament.”
She was answering a warning sent by two MEPs that followed POLITICO’s reporting on an investigation of Huawei by the Belgian intelligence services within wider efforts to shed light on China’s influence operations in Europe by non-state actors. The lawmakers said those operations were “particularly concerning in the context of the Qatargate scandal.”
Belgium’s intelligence service had requested interviews with former employees of the company’s lobbying operation, POLITICO reported. The intelligence gathering was part of activities by security officials to scrutinize how China may be using non-state actors — including senior lobbyists in Huawei’s Brussels office — to advance the interests of the Chinese state and its Communist party around the EU and NATO headquarters in Brussels.
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Belgium’s federal public prosecutors clarified last week that their investigation was looking at corruption “with a view to promoting purely private commercial interests in the context of political decisions” — which would suggest the Chinese government was not involved.
How are the EU institutions reacting?
Both the Parliament and the Commission on Friday banned Huawei lobbyists from entering their premises. The ban would affect Huawei’s lobbyists signed up to the EU transparency register.
The Parliament’s ban applies to all premises in Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg and to the liaison offices the institution holds across EU countries.
The Commission announced they would instruct commissioners’ cabinets and all the departments (directorates-general) “to immediately suspend contacts and meetings with Huawei until further notice,” spokesperson for transparency Olof Gill said.
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Parliamentarians were quick to call for reforms to increase transparency at the institution.
A block of right-wing lawmakers — including from the political group of Parliament President Roberta Metsola — have held back the creation of a common ethics body that would set up common ethical standards across EU institutions. The new scandal is now prompting factions in favor of the body to speak up.
“These developments highlight the critical need for robust oversight and accountability,” said Victor Negrescu, the Parliament’s vice president for transparency and anti-corruption and a Romanian social-democrat member.
Dutch liberal member Bart Groothuis said the institution had to “demonstrate we have learned from Qatargate … so no ifs or buts, but clear and forceful measures should be taken.”
Nicholas Aiossa, director at Transparency International’s office in Brussels, said “if MEPs want to protect the integrity of the Parliament, they need to bring about swift, wide-ranging and substantial ethics reform.”
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Metsola has so far not commented on the scandal in a public statement.
Elisa Braun, Max Griera, Hanne Cokelaere, Antoaneta Roussi, Mathieu Pollet, Aitor Hernández-Morales, Sarah Wheaton, Clea Caulcutt and Laurens Cerulus contributed reporting.