MEPs have updated the EP rules of procedure in order to enable requests by the European Chief Prosecutor for the lifting of parliamentary immunity to be announced in plenary.
The mission of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is to tackle fraud against the EU’s finances. It has the power to investigate and prosecute crimes affecting the EU’s financial interests. Parliament’s rules of procedure needed to be modified in order to bring them in line with the EPPO mandate, which provides that European Chief Prosecutor can submit requests for the waiver of immunity of persons protected in this manner by under EU law, where the relevant investigations need it.
The updated rules were adopted with 610 votes for, 26 against, and 9 abstentions.
Procedure for waiver of immunity
As foreseen in Parliament’s Rules of Procedure (Rule 6 and Rule 9), a request to waive an MEP’s immunity is announced by the President in plenary and then referred to the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI). Before adopting its recommendation for the whole Parliament to approve or reject the request, the committee may ask for any information it deems necessary and the MEP concerned will have the opportunity to be heard. After the committee adopts a recommendation, the full House will take a vote at the next plenary session by simple majority vote. The decision is then communicated to the MEP concerned as well as to the requesting authority.
The new rules will come into force tomorrow, Wednesday 18 January 2023. The President is set to announce the launch of the procedure at the plenary in Strasbourg this week.
In December 2022, the EPPO announced that it has requested that the immunity of two Members be lifted due to alleged fraud detrimental to the EU budget. This is related to the management of their parliamentary allowance and the remuneration of their Accredited Parliamentary Assistants.
