The European Parliament has approved an emergency plenary debate on the surveillance of former MEP Stelios Kouloglou during his work on the Special Committee of Inquiry on Pegasus and other spyware (PEGA Committee). The decision was adopted at the start of the Parliament’s Strasbourg session, following a formal request by the LEFT and Greens/EFA political groups — with 221 votes in favour and 213 against.
Call for Democratic Accountability
The initiative followed a letter from Kostas Arvanitis, Deputy Chair of the LEFT group, addressed to European Parliament President and leaders of democratic political groups. In it, he urged parliamentary action in response to revelations that Kouloglou — while serving on the PEGA Committee — had allegedly been targeted using the Pegasus spyware.
Timing and Focus of the Debate
The emergency debate is scheduled for Wednesday, 8 July 2026, from 20:00 to 21:00 CET (Greek time), under the title: ‘Defending European Democracy and the Integrity of the European Parliament in Light of Revelations That an MEP Was Targeted with Illegal Spyware.’
The discussion comes after joint investigative reporting by international and Greek media outlets, in collaboration with the Citizen Lab, which identified Kouloglou as a suspected target of Pegasus surveillance during his involvement in the PEGA inquiry — a committee established to examine abuses of commercial spyware across EU member states.