The Vice-President of the General Court of the European Union, Savvas Papasavvas, ordered on Wednesday 2 June a stay of execution of the European Parliament’s decisions to lift the parliamentary immunity of Carles Puigdemeont, Toni Comin, and Clara Ponsatí.
According to the Vice-President, the European Parliament has not yet submitted its observations on the application for interim measures by the three Catalan separatists, after their parliamentary immunity was lifted in March (see EUROPE 12674/2). Therefore, the Vice-President believes that it is not possible to take a position on the merits of Parliament’s decisions at this time.
However, this constitutes a reprieve. Mr Papasavvas believes that the allegations made by the two MEPs justify maintaining the status quo before taking a final decision once they have received more details from the parties.
In theory, the three MEPs can again sit in Parliament, we are told. This will depend on how quickly Parliament sends its observations to the General Court.
In January and February 2020, the European Parliament had received requests from the Spanish Supreme Court to lift the immunity of the three parliamentarians in the context of criminal proceedings for sedition initiated after the organisation in 2017 of a referendum deemed illegal on Catalan independence.
After their parliamentary immunity was lifted, the three Catalan separatists lodged an appeal before the EU General Court on 19 May. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)