09/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - In the affair concerning a request to lift the parliamentary immunity of MEP and Forza Italia President Silvio Berlusconi, presented in July 2000 by the Spanish Supreme Court (see EUROPE of 22 February, pages 4 and 5), the Permanent Representative for Spain with the EU wrote to the chef de cabinet of EP President Nicole Fontaine, on 5 March, to apologise for the delay. He stated that the Spanish Government had decided to consult the State Council. He also said the Spanish legal order does not explicitly stipulate to what authority such requests should be transmitted. On 6 March, in response to the president of the Socialist Group, Enrique Baron, who requested that an inquiry be carried out into this matter, Ms Fontaine pointed out that she had first wished to gather information on how her predecessors had acted to ensure that the requests received by them to lift immunity had come from the "relevant authority". Out of about sixty cases noted, it seems almost all came from governmental authorities of the Member State concerned, except Portugal, she said. At the same time, she told Mr Baron that his idea to establish a comprehensive report on EP case law on such matters "seems excellent".