European Parliament upholds Daniel Attard's immunity effectively shutting down Huawei bribery probe

The European Parliament has voted to uphold MEP Daniel Attard’s parliamentary immunity, which effectively ends the saga he was dragged into by the Belgian police as part of a corruption probe involving Chinese tech giant Huawei.

Parliament voted on Tuesday, to also uphold the immunity of two other MEPs, Bulgarian Renew MEP Nikola Minchev, and Italian EPP member Salvatore De Meo.

The vote dismisses further investigation and access to Attard’s email records, phone logs, and other material.

However, Italian MEP Fulvio Martusciello, who is believed to have been the promoter of a letter signed by eight MEPs in 2021, urging the EU Commission not ban the use of foreign 5G devices on the grounds of national security risks, had his immunity lifted. 

The development comes after Attard was one of several MEPs caught up in a Belgian police bribery investigation involving a top lobbyist for the Chinese tech giant Huawei. The probe centres around suspicions that the MEPs were offered gifts from the company in return for taking favourable positions in the European Parliament 

Earlier this year, Belgian police had formally requested the lifting of Attard’s parliamentary immunity. 

In a report detailing this request, the parliament committee recommended not to issue the waiver against Attard, after describing a revelation of "flagrant scarcity of concrete elements" in the Belgian police's request. 

It was noted that initial allegations from September 2025 turned out to be based on mistaken identity, with Belgian prosecutor’s office admitting it wrongly identified Daniel Attard the MEP when it was his namesake, the mayor of Għasri and also a lawyer, who had been flagged.

When the case emerged last year, the Maltese MEP had asked for his immunity to be lifted, in an attempt to clear his name. 

The holder of the bank account, which was flagged with transactions between individuals in China and Hong Kong, belonged to Għasri mayor, Daniel Attard, whose legal practice includes advising international clients, including Chinese nationals, on residency issues.

Following this, the MEP’s lawyers wrote to Belgian prosecutors, calling for his removal from the probe, and to withdraw the request for lifting his immunity.