The European Parliament (EP) has called on the European Union (EU) to stop funding the business empire of Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babiss, who is in a conflict of interest.
Babish-owned companies are among the largest recipients of EU agricultural subsidies.
In April, auditors from the European Commission (EC) concluded that Babišs, being both a politician and a businessman, was in a situation of conflict of interest.
The billionaire and founder of the populist party Dissatisfied Citizens’ Action (UN), Babiš is the fifth richest man in the Czech Republic to be a wealthy owner of the multidisciplinary conglomerate Agrofert.
Babish claims that in 2017, as Minister of Finance, he transferred his conglomerate to two trust funds under an anti-corruption law, which is believed to have been developed specifically for his case and was designated “Lex Babish” (Babish’s Law).
However, publicly available documents show that he is still the real beneficiary of Agrofert.
The EC has come to the same conclusion by publishing its final report in April, which is a revised version of the report already published in 2019.
The EC has concluded that Babišs is currently “enjoying a decisive influence on trust funds”.
The auditors have indicated that the Czech Republic has to repay to the European Union the EUR 11 million received by Agrofert from the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund.
Babiss denied any conflict of interest, accusing the report’s authors of manipulation.
The EP resolution does not lead to immediate action on this issue, but urges the EC to continue examining the situation, which could potentially lead to a complete suspension of EU payments to the Czech Republic.
Of the 690 MEPs who took part in Wednesday’s vote, 505 supported the resolution, 30 voted against and 155 abstained.
Payments from EU funds or Czech national budget companies directly controlled by Babiss or another member of the government must be suspended until the conflict of interest situation is completely eliminated, the resolution said.
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