STRASBOURG — Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel condemned one of his country’s MEPs who was sanctioned a second time by the European Parliament this week for bullying her staff.
Renew Europe MEP Monica Semedo will lose her daily allowance of €338 for a period of 10 days, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced Tuesday.
“I have to condemn the behavior,” Bettel said Wednesday at a press conference with Metsola in Strasbourg. “This is the decision of the European Parliament and I respect it,” he said.
“Every act of harassment has to be punished — if it’s someone I know or not,” Bettel said.
Semedo, a former TV-host-turned-MEP since 2019, had been an ally of Bettel. But Semedo stepped down from Bettel’s liberal Democratic Party last year after falling foul of the rules on parliamentarian conduct for the first time.
In 2021, she received a tougher sanction by also being barred from parliamentary activity for 15 days, on top of having her daily allowance docked, for “psychological harassment.”
The parliamentary assistant concerned said they were relieved their “voice was heard.”
The person, who requested anonymity due to the implications on their future career, told POLITICO: “I must admit that the past months were an emotional roller coaster; I had to, once more, relive all the moments due to the procedure.”
The MeTooEP movement, which combats sexual harassment and seeks better working conditions within the European Parliament, on Twitter condemned that the sanction was for only 10 days, adding that it’s time for the institution to revise its internal rules on harassment.
Semedo, who sits as an independent within the Renew grouping, now has the option of appealing. By the time of publication, she had not responded to POLITICO requests for a comment and as to whether she might appeal.
A Renew Europe spokesperson wrote to POLITICO, “The group will always support the process of the European Parliament. It will be discussed within the relevant bodies of our group once the official procedure is completed.”
Barbara Moens reported from Brussels.
