BEERG Newsletter - Unions: ITUC dismiss general secretary

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has taken the decision to part company with its recently elected general secretary, Luca Visentini, over his involvement in the so-called “Quatargate” scandal, which has seen several members of the European Parliament jailed on suspicion of bribery and corruption. 

Luca Visentini was arrested in December as part of the investigation into suspected corruption among MEPs involving Qatar and Morocco. He admitted receiving €50,000 from the NGO of former MEP turned lobbyist Pier Panzeri, which he said helped fund his expenses during the election campaign for ITUC general secretary. 

A statement from the ITUC said that having received several reports on the matter from a special internal commission and external auditors, Visentini “no longer had the confidence of the General Council as ITUC General Secretary.”

The ITUC will organise an extraordinary World Congress, as soon as practicable. That Congress will elect a new General Secretary. In the meantime, an Acting General Secretary will be elected at the beginning of May. In the interim, “political leadership will be exercised by the ITUC President and Deputy Presidents, and daily management by Deputy General Secretary Owen Tudor in close cooperation with them.”

See the full ITUC statement here. For an interesting comment on what has been happening this here from a former ITUC “insider” is worth a read.