Marc Tarabella (born 11 March 1963) is a Belgian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who has been serving as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

for the

French Community of Belgium In Belgium, the French Community (, , CFB) refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French Community has used the name Wallonia-Brussels Federation (, , FWB), which is controversial because ...

with the Parti Socialiste, part of the Socialist Group. In February 2023 he was charged with corruption and money laundering in connection with the Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament.

Early life

Tarabella was born in

Ougrée Ougrée (; ) is a town of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Seraing, located in the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. It was a separate municipality before the merging of municipalities in 1977. Olympic swimmers Béatric ...

, a suburb of

Seraing Seraing (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia located in the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boncelles, Jemeppe-sur-M ...

from a family originally from

Versilia Versilia is a part of Tuscany in the north-western province of Lucca and is named after the Versilia river. Known for fashionable Riviera resorts, it consists of numerous clubs that are frequented by local celebrities. Is composed by the four terr ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Education

* 1986: Degree in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

University of Liège The University of Liège (), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium founded in 1817 and based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French (language), French. History The university was foun ...

* 1988: Seconded to the office of the Premier of the Walloon Region * 1990: Customer adviser, General Savings and Retirement Fund

Political career

Career in national politics

* 1988–1994: Member of the Anthisnes

Municipal Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

* since 1994:

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Anthisnes Anthisnes (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 Anthisnes had a total population of 3,998. The total area is 37.08 km2 which gives a population density of 108 inhabitants per km2. ...

* 2000: Member of the executive of the Huy-Waremme Federation of the Socialist Party * 2003: President of the Rural Foundation of Wallonia * 2002: Belgian coordinator of the committees supporting Ingrid Betancourt

Member of the European Parliament

In parliament, Tarabella sits on the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) is a committee of the European Parliament. Responsibilities of the Committee AGRI is the European Parliament committee responsible for: #The operation and development of the Common Agricul ...

. He is a substitute for the

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) is a Committees of the European Parliament, committee of the European Parliament. It is responsible for issues of employment and social policy, including labour rights, social security, inclusion ...

and a vice-chair of the Delegation for relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In January 2021, Tarabella became a member of the Italian left-wing party Article One. Amid the Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament in late 2022, Belgian police searched Tarabella's home. He subsequently suspended himself from the S&D group, and his Walloon Socialist party revoked his membership. He also stepped down as member and vice chair of the European Parliament’s delegation to Qatar and other Arabian Peninsula countries. In February 2023 the European Parliament voted to waive immunity for Tarabella. He was subsequently arrested, charged with

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

and

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

and remanded into custody. He denied any wrongdoing. In April 2023 he was released from prison and the following month released from house arrest.

References

External links

* * * 1963 births Living people Belgian sociologists MEPs for Belgium 2004–2009 MEPs for Belgium 2009–2014 MEPs for Belgium 2014–2019 MEPs for Belgium 2019–2024 Socialist Party (Belgium) MEPs Socialist Party (Belgium) politicians People from Anthisnes People from Seraing University of Liège alumni Belgian people of Italian descent {{Belgium-mayor-stub