Huawei lobbyists banned from accessing European Parliament after bribery arrests

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Parliament on Friday banned lobbyists working for Huawei from its premises following the arrests of several people in a corruption probe linked to the Chinese company, in yet another scandal to rock the bloc's legislature.

Huawei is suspected by Belgian prosecutors of bribing EU lawmakers.

The European Parliament said on Friday that the decision to suspend the access of Huawei lobbyists has been taken as a precautionary measure, in line with its security rules. The decision takes immediate effect.

Thursday's arrests came as an investigation by Le Soir newspaper and other media revealed that lobbyists working for the Chinese telecoms giant were suspected of bribing current or former European Parliament members to promote the company’s commercial policies in Europe.

About 100 federal police officers carried out 21 searches in Brussels, the Flanders and Wallonia regions, and Portugal. The investigating magistrate in charge of the case also asked for seals to be placed on offices inside the EU Parliament allocated to two parliamentary assistants allegedly involved.

Huawei said Thursday it is taking the allegations seriously and that it would “urgently communicate” with investigators.

Huawei, which makes cellphones and is the biggest maker of networking gear for phone and internet carriers, has been caught in tensions between the United States and China over technology and trade. Some European nations have followed Washington’s lead and banned Huawei’s equipment from next-generation mobile networks over allegations that it poses a security risk that could help facilitate Chinese spying. The company has repeatedly denied this.

The prosecutor’s office said it believes corruption started in 2021.

This is the second corruption case targeting the EU Parliament in less than three years. In December 2022, the legislature was shaken by a corruption scandal in which Qatari officials were accused of bribing EU officials to play down labor rights concerns ahead of the soccer World Cup. The scandal scarred the reputation of the EU’s only institution comprised of officials elected directly in the 27 member countries.