The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in its Junqueras Vies judgment (C-502/19), delivered on Thursday 19 December, that a person elected to the European Parliament acquires parliamentary immunity as soon as the results are officially announced.
The Catalan separatist Junqueras Vies appealed to the Court on the interpretation of Article 9 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union by the Spanish Supreme Court. The politician, who was then in pre-trial detention because of his participation in the organisation of the October 2017 referendum on self-determination (see EUROPE 11884/18), had been unable to obtain an authorisation to leave prison following his election to the European Parliament. Since then, Mr Junqueras has also been sentenced to thirteen years' imprisonment and disqualification from holding public office or public functions (see EUROPE 12348/23).
However, in the Court's view, "a person who is elected to the European Parliament acquires the status of Member of Parliament as a result of and from the time of the declaration of the election results, with the result that he enjoys the immunities guaranteed by Article 9 of the Protocol". According to the Protocol, the Court explains, immunity covers the travel of MEPs to the place of meeting of the European Parliament from the first inaugural session onwards.
Therefore, the CJEU considers that the benefit of immunity entails lifting "any measure of provisional detention" imposed prior to the proclamation of his election, in order to allow MEPs to take part in the inaugural session of the European Parliament. There is nothing to prevent the competent national court subsequently from requesting a waiver of parliamentary immunity on the basis of Article 9 of that Protocol, the Court adds.
Thus, without following the Opinion of Advocate General Maciej Szpunar (see EUROPE 12367/14), the Court reaches the same conclusions.
"A very important ruling"
"The Court has ruled that the assumption of the parliamentary mandate results solely from the vote of the citizens", welcomed the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli. "It is a very important ruling that directly affects the composition of this institution", he said. Until now, the European Parliament has had 748 seats instead of the planned 751 elected representatives, due to the ban imposed on three Catalan elected representatives. And the President of the European Parliament turned towards Spain: "I appeal to the competent Spanish authorities and call on them to comply with this ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union".
The Commission dodges the issue
"The Commission takes note of the preliminary ruling which clarifies the interpretation of the provisions of Article 9 of the Protocol (...) It is now up to the Spanish Supreme Court and the European Parliament to assess the follow-up to this preliminary ruling", Christian Wigand, spokesman for the European Commission, told the press, preferring not to "speculate" on the subject. The European Commission has always taken a very cautious stance on the Catalan issue, declaring itself incompetent on the substance and rejecting any mediation role since the beginning of the crisis.
Catalan Jubilation
For the Catalan Councillor for External Action, Institutional Relations and Transparency of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Alfred Bosch, this is "a victory for democracy in Europe". The latter, on a trip to Denmark, called for the release of Mr Junqueras so that he could take his seat in the European Parliament.
Catalonia's representative to the EU, Meritxell Serret, for her part, said the ruling would allow former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comin to sit in the European Parliament. Both men are currently in exile in Belgium and are the subject of a European arrest warrant issued by the Spanish authorities.
To consult the Court's judgment: http://bit.ly/35EoyoZ (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)