MEPs sanctioned for skipping anti-harassment training

BRUSSELS — Three MEPs — including the head of the French National Rally delegation in the European Parliament — have been sanctioned for failing to complete mandatory anti-harassment training.

The three — Italy’s Domenico Lucano (The Left), France’s Jean-Paul Garraud (chief of National Rally delegation, part of the Patriots group), and Austria’s Petra Steger (Patriots) — have been barred from holding official parliamentary roles, according to a Parliament official, granted anonymity to speak about confidential cases.

Lawmakers must complete “conflict and harassment prevention and good office management” training within six months of taking office. If they do not, MEPs cannot be elected as officeholders in any of the Parliament’s bodies, write reports, participate in an official delegation, or take part in negotiations with other EU institutions — unless the administration grants them an exception. They can still be members of committees.

The training was set up in April 2024 in the wake of the #MeToo movement, after a survey carried out by an in-house campaign group called MeTooEP found 16 percent of respondents had faced sexual harassment, and after several news reports that harassment cases often went underreported for fear of repercussions.

POLITICO reviewed the declaration pages of all MEPs on Feb. 18 and identified those who did not have a certificate showing that they had taken the course. Just three MEPs didn’t have the certificate.

All three took up their roles in July 2024, which means they had until early 2025 to finish the training.

Garraud and Steger did not reply to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Patriots for Europe group did not reply to a request for comment.

“Domenico Lucano received a prior derogation for this training due to illness and is currently waiting for the next opportunity for it to be offered in Italian,” said The Left group spokesperson, Tom Shannon. “He has already completed 4 out of 5 hours of the course and has stated his intention to complete the final hour as soon as possible and this is also the Left group’s expectation.”

One of Lucano’s assistants said: “Of course he did the course, but he didn’t finish the last hour, as he had to run to a political meeting that day.” The assistant added they were waiting for a timeslot “to finish the hour that he needs to do, that’s why it probably looks like he didn’t do it.”

The Parliament’s press service said it cannot comment on individual cases.