If you work in logistics in Europe, you know the European Parliament from our side of the desk. Forms, filings, ICS2, CBAM, the end of the 150 euro exemption.
More rules, more reporting, more fines. And we are told it is all about transparency and fairness….but wait-
let us check how much transparency and fairness there is among the people who write these rules…
Huawei-gate: where the law stops at the door
In March 2025 Belgian police raided Huawei offices, and offices inside the Parliament itself, on suspicion that the company’s lobbyists paid MEPs to push its interests.
The suspected goal was to open the door for Chinese 5G technology in Europe.
Prosecutors asked to lift the immunity of the suspects so they could question them. What did the Parliament do? Sat on the request for more than a year…
and then, yes, voted to keep the immunity of most of them. One senior suspect, the head of an Italian party delegation, was opened up to investigation only after a close vote. Another was saved in committee by a single vote, 18 to 17.
The most embarrassing part: even Huawei said it regrets that the immunity process drags on and stops investigators from doing their job.
When the company suspected of paying bribes asks for an investigation, and the one saying no is the European Parliament… something is very very wrong.
Qatar-gate: four years, no trial
December 2022. Raids in Brussels, more than one million euros in cash, and a Vice-President of the Parliament arrested with piles of cash.
The biggest scandal in the history of the institution. Four years later, there is still no trial date and she “manages” the investigation…where are the policemen that made the original investigation? Dangerous issue to ask….
The travelling circus
Twelve times a year the whole Parliament, with its members, assistants, interpreters and boxes of files, moves from Brussels to Strasbourg and back.
The EU’s own auditors put the cost at about 114 million euros a year, including a train chartered just for the trip. Why? Because France will not give up the prestige.
Money without receipts
Every MEP gets a “general expenditure allowance” of about 4,950 euros a month, with no need to show a single receipt. On top of that comes 350 euros a day for staying in Brussels or Strasbourg, business-class flights and first class trains.
Try filing a customs declaration with a vague goods description… ICS2 will reject it automatically and the cargo will be held. We have no immunity.
Bottom line
The same institution that makes every importer and forwarder report every kilo of carbon and every 3 euro parcel, cannot report its own expenses, and is in no hurry to let investigators near its own members.
Transparency, it turns out, is for Slaves only but European citizens are sort of deadly alive, or just Dumb.
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