The Parliament’s legal affairs committee will then decide whether to strip the immunities, in a process that could take as little as four weeks if fast-tracked, or up to a year in sensitive cases.

Daniel Attard, a Maltese Socialist MEP, is part of the group, he said on social media on Monday.

He said he was being investigated in connection with the Huawei probe for attending a football match in September at the box that Huawei has in the Anderlecht football stadium in Brussels.

“I was not made aware that the invitation originated from any company, or that it involved a corporate box,” he said. “It has since emerged that the invitation came from a person who is currently under investigation by the Belgian authorities and who intended to speak to me about Huawei during the match.”

Attard said that following a subsequent meeting in the Parliament with the company’s representatives, which he says he declared, he “had no further communication and took no action whatsoever in relation to Huawei or any matters related to the company.”

Authorities are also investigating seven MEPs who signed a letter sent in February 2021 to three EU commissioners, in which they argued geopolitical tension should not hinder the development of 5G equipment in Europe, a move that would benefit the Chinese tech giant. Belgian authorities are looking into whether these lawmakers have been paid for their signatures. It is unclear whether the waiver requests target these lawmakers.

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