EU chief calls for stricter ethics rules amid scandal

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s top official says the allegations of corruption targeting a vice-president of the European Parliament are of “utmost concern.” The lobbying scandal has already seen parliament Vice-President Eva Kaili relieved of her duties. Authorities have not identified the Gulf country suspected of offering cash or gifts to officials at the parliament in exchange for political favors, but several members of the assembly and some Belgian media have linked the investigation to Qatar.  Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, is now calling for the creation of an independent ethics body, covering all of the bloc’s institutions, to improve transparency.