The European Parliament opened today the procedure on the request of the authorities in Belgium to lift the immunities of the Bulgarian MEP Nikola Minchev ("Renew Europe"), Salvatore De Meo, Fulvio Martuscello and Giusi Principe (the three from the EPP, Italy) and Daniel Attard (Socialists and Democrats, Malta). The request is being forwarded to the EP's legal affairs committee, the institution's chairwoman Roberta Metzola announced at a session of MEPs in Brussels, BTA reports.
The request is related to an investigation into suspicions of corruption, after on March 13 the Belgian authorities began checking data that the Chinese company "Huawei" had provided gifts to MEPs and their associates in order to secure influence.
Nikola Minchev announced at the end of last week that in the investigation against his former parliamentary associate, the Belgian prosecutor's office wants to check whether the Bulgarian MEP is connected to some of the activities being checked. I will cooperate one hundred percent and I will ask the EP to lift the immunity as soon as possible, because I have no relation to any illegal activity of these people, nor anything to worry about, he added.
The request of the Belgian authorities is expected to be considered in September in substance by the EP's Legal Affairs Committee, chaired by Bulgarian MEP Ilhan Küçük ("Renew Europe").
Parliamentary immunity is a guarantee that MEPs can freely exercise their mandate without being subjected to arbitrary political persecution, according to EP rules. MEPs cannot be subjected to any form of investigation, detention or legal proceedings in connection with opinions expressed by them or their votes. They have double immunity - in their own country and in all other EU countries, and are protected from any form of detention or legal proceedings. Immunity cannot be claimed when an MEP is caught committing a crime, the rules state.
At the request of national authorities to the EP, immunity can be waived, after which the Parliament's legal affairs committee can ask for information or explanations, and the MEP concerned is given the opportunity to be heard in camera. The committee draws up a report and adopts a recommendation to approve or reject the request for waiver of immunity. The EP then votes on a decision in plenary by a simple majority.
The waiver of an MEP's immunity does not imply a conviction, but allows national judicial authorities to proceed with an investigation or trial. As MEPs are elected under national electoral law, if an MEP is found guilty of a crime, the authorities of the EU country concerned decide whether their mandate should be terminated.
In 2022 The EP has rejected the Bulgarian authorities’ request to lift the immunity of MEP Elena Yoncheva. The Bulgarian prosecutor’s office requested Yoncheva’s immunity in 2019 on money laundering charges. Earlier this year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in this case that Bulgaria had violated the presumption of innocence of Yoncheva.