The head of the European Parliament has vowed "a wide-ranging reform package" to clean up the legislature amid a graft scandal linked to World Cup host Qatar.
The parliament's speaker, Roberta Metsola, said the plan will include a strengthening of the parliament's whistle-blower protection systems, a ban on all "unofficial friendship groups" and a review of the policing of code of conduct rules, AFP said Thursday.
She said she would lead the changes, which are to include "a complete and in-depth look at how we interact with third countries", and that the package would be ready "in the new year".
At the same time, the European Parliament called for representatives of Qatar to be temporarily barred from the legislature's premises.
Belgian authorities sparked the scandal by detaining six people last week. Four of them -- including an MEP and former European Parliament vice president under Metsola, Eva Kaili -- have been charged with "criminal organization, corruption and money laundering". The other two were released.
Both Kaili, a former TV newsreader in Greece, and Qatari officials deny any wrongdoing.
A series of searches at the homes and offices of politicians, lobbyists and parliamentary assistants turned up around 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million) in cash.
A Belgian judicial source said 600,000 euros were found at the home of an MEP-turned-lobbyist, Pier Panzeri, 150,000 euros in Kaili's flat and 750,000 in her father's hotel room.
The probe and the charges have shaken the European Parliament, and put its interactions with lobbyists and representatives of non-EU countries under intense scrutiny.
