WRITTEN QUESTION E-0559/04 by Mario Borghezio (NI) to the Commission. EU subsidises First Lady Suha Arafat's high life in Paris.
Date: 2004-02-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: International Monetary Fund, Palestine, aid recipient, auditing, distribution of EU funding, economic support, use of aid

8.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 88 E/193

(2004/C 88 E/0198)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0559/04

by Mario Borghezio (NI) to the Commission

(26 February 2004)

Subject: EU subsidises First Lady Suha Arafat’s high life in Paris

is

OLAF
EUR 350 million a year).

currently conducting an investigation into EU subsidies

to Palestine

(approximately

A French judge has recently ordered an inquiry into money laundering by Mrs Suha Arafat, the wife of the
President of the Palestinian Authority, involving a substantial sum (EUR 9 million) transferred from a Swiss
bank to Mr Arafat’s wife’s accounts with the Arab Bank and BNP in Paris.

A significant proportion of the sums involved (EUR 2 million) ended up in the accounts of a well-known
interior designer for the Paris jet set (Alberto Pinto).

Similarly, substantial IMF funds for Palestine have been diverted to a special account controlled by Arafat.

Does the Commission intend to verify whether or not all or part of the large amounts of aid granted to the
Palestinian Authority have been used to fund the life of luxury led by First Lady Suha Arafat in her opulent
Parisian residence, far from the dangers and suffering endured in the tortured land of Palestine?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(1 April 2004)

The Commission wishes to inform the Honourable Member that it has been in close contact with the
Palestinian Authority (PA) in order to ascertain whether Community funds allocated to the PA have been
used by Mr Arafat’s wife for personal reasons.

At present, the PA is facing a serious financing deficit and has been unable to pay its regular bills to the
private sector or to contribute sufficiently to social services, which has resulted in an accumulation of
arrears.

Commission support since 2003 has been targeted on helping to clear these arrears in order to directly
assist the private and social sector in the most effective way by supplying emergency relief and help to
preserve jobs and social services. These payments are subject to the implementation of ongoing reforms
within the PA, notably linked to further improvements in financial management and financial control.

The Commission has set up a technical assistance team which verifies and approves all invoices. The
checks performed by the technical assistance team are backed up by further certification of the invoices by
an auditor seconded from a European national audit office to ensure that all invoices are for private sector
enterprises and social services. It is only after the invoices have been checked that funds are released.
Invoices for payments to Mrs Arafat, and other non-eligible third parties, would be excluded under this
system of control.

The Commission has no knowledge of diversion of International Monetary Fund (IMF) funds, to which the
Honourable Member refers, into a special account controlled by Mr Arafat.