Official Journal of the European Union

C 68/16

(Case C-502/19) (*)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Expedited procedure - Institutional law - Citizen of the European Union elected to the European Parliament while being held in provisional detention in the context of criminal proceedings - Article 14 TEU - Concept of ‘Member of the European Parliament’ - Article 343 TFEU - Immunities necessary for the performance of the tasks of the European Union - Protocol (No 7) on the privileges and immunities of the European Union - Article 9 - Immunities enjoyed by Members of the European Parliament - Immunity as regards travel - Immunities as regards sessions - Personal, temporal and material scope of the various immunities - Waiver of immunity by the European Parliament - Request to waive immunity from a national court - Act concerning the election of Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage - Article 5 - Term of office - Article 8 - Electoral procedure - Article 12 - Verification of the credentials of Members of the European Parliament following the official declaration of the election results - Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union - Article 39(2) - Election of Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage in a free and secret ballot - Right to stand as a candidate at elections)

(2020/C 68/14)

Language of the case: Spanish

Referring court

Other parties: Ministerio Fiscal, Abogacía del Estado, Partido político VOX

Operative part of the judgment

Article 9 of the Protocol (No 7) on the privileges and immunities of the European Union must be interpreted as meaning that:

— a person who was officially declared elected to the European Parliament while subject to a measure of provisional detention in the context of proceedings in respect of serious criminal offences, but who was not authorised to comply with certain requirements under national law following such a declaration and to travel to the European Parliament in order to take part in its first session, must be regarded as enjoying an immunity under the second paragraph of that article;

— that immunity entails that the measure of provisional detention imposed on the person concerned must be lifted, in order to enable that person to travel to the European Parliament and complete the necessary formalities there. That being said, if the competent national court considers that that measure should be maintained after the person concerned acquires the status of Member of the European Parliament, it must as soon as possible request the European Parliament to waive that immunity, on the basis of the third paragraph of Article 9 of that protocol.

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(*) Language of the case: Spanish.