The European Parliament has moved a step closer to allowing Belgian prosecutors to investigate sitting MEPs in connection with the expanding Huawei lobbying scandal after a key parliamentary committee voted to lift the immunity of two lawmakers.
The Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) on Wednesday backed the removal of parliamentary immunity for Bulgarian Renew Europe MEP Nikola Minchev and Maltese Socialist MEP Daniel Attard, both of whom have been targeted by Belgian judicial authorities as part of the so-called Huaweigate affair.
The committee’s recommendations must still be ratified by the European Parliament’s plenary session, but the votes represent a significant step forward for the Belgian investigation and signal Parliament’s willingness to cooperate with authorities.
According to several sources, JURI voted 14-11 in favour of lifting Minchev’s immunity. The committee also backed the removal of Attard’s immunity by 19 votes to six.
By contrast, it rejected lifting the immunity of Italian European People’s Party (EPP) MEP Salvatore De Meo by a narrow margin of 18 votes to 17.
The committee also examined the case of EPP MEP Fulvio Martusciello, who has been identified by several Italian media outlets as an important figure in the investigation. However, his case has not yet been put to a final vote and will be reconsidered at a future meeting.
The Belgian investigation began in March, when authorities launched a major operation linked to alleged improper lobbying practices involving Huawei within the European Parliament.
Since then, Belgium’s federal prosecutors have carried out searches, seizures, and document reviews to determine whether individuals linked to the Chinese technology giant attempted to influence European policymakers.
One of the central figures in the case is Valerio Ottati, a former parliamentary assistant and Huawei’s current Head of Public Affairs for Europe. Investigators are examining, among other elements, two letters signed by several MEPs in 2021 supporting the participation of Chinese technology companies in the deployment of 5G networks across the European Union.
Belgian prosecutors are seeking to establish whether payments, gifts, travel, or other benefits were used to secure political support for positions favourable to Huawei.
So far, no formal charges have been brought against any of the MEPs concerned by the immunity requests. Nor has any judicial ruling established criminal liability.
Lifting parliamentary immunity does not imply guilt or constitute a formal accusation. Rather, it allows authorities to continue investigating the MEPs.
The next steps will depend both on ratification by the European Parliament’s plenary session and on the progress of judicial proceedings in Belgium.
Meanwhile, the so-called Huaweigate affair continues to expand in scope and has already become one of the largest alleged foreign influence scandals to affect the European Parliament since Qatargate.
