Lawyers for former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt say he is cooperating with requests for information following reports of an inquiry into the handling of trainees in the European Parliament. The reporting concerns his former political group and its supervision arrangements. It does not establish that he has been charged or that wrongdoing has been proven.
VRT reported on 5 October that Belgian federal police were acting on behalf of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, with the European Anti-Fraud Office also involved. The broadcaster said it had confirmed reporting first published by Knack.
Lawyers dispute personal involvement
The period under scrutiny includes Verhofstadt’s chairmanship of the former ALDE group, from 2009 to 2019. He left the European Parliament in 2024.
His lawyers told VRT that OLAF had requested information about supervision of trainees, that he had not been personally involved in that work as group chair and that he had not yet been interviewed. They said no specific allegations had been put to him and that he was cooperating fully.
VRT said EPPO declined to comment on the case. Silence from an investigative body is not confirmation of the details alleged in a media report.
Two bodies with different functions
EPPO’s explanation of its arrangement with OLAF distinguishes criminal investigation and prosecution from administrative investigation. The organisations can cooperate, but their involvement does not mean they perform identical tasks or have reached a common finding.
The OLAF description of internal investigations likewise separates inquiry from recommendations and subsequent follow-up.
For this case, the available public account remains a reported investigation and the lawyers’ response. There is no basis in the checked material to present it as a conviction, a finding of fraud or a settled account of personal responsibility.
