BETA


2008/2232(INI) Parliamentary immunity in Poland

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead JURI WALLIS Diana (icon: ALDE ALDE)
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 54, RoP 54-p4

Events

2009/04/24
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2009/04/24
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted by 384 votes to 3, with 16 abstentions, a resolution on parliamentary immunity in Poland.

The resolution echoes several requests for waiver of the immunity of Members elected in Poland which, in the current parliamentary term, have come up against certain difficulties in the interpretation of provisions of law that might be applicable in the case of those Members.

The resolution notes the difficulties faced by the Committee on Legal Affairs in terms of the admissibility of certain requests for waiver of immunity made by authorities who are not judged to be competent (the issue here relates to “ the competent authority ” responsible for requesting the waiver of immunity because under Polish law a private person has the right to make a direct request for waiver of immunity, whereas this is not necessarily compatible with the Parliament’s Rules of Procedure). The European Parliament’s responsible committee is competent to verify the admissibility of a request for waiver of immunity, including the question of the competence of the national authority to submit such a request. However, under the existing provisions the manifest conflict in this regard between the relevant provisions of Polish law and the European Parliament Rules of Procedure would have to be resolved by regarding as inadmissible requests for waiver of immunity submitted by private persons .

The resolution also highlights the particular situation of Members of the Polish Sejm and Senat who continue to be eligible, even after the waiver of their parliamentary immunity, which, according to the Parliament, represents an obvious differentiation in treatment between Members of the European Parliament elected in Poland and Members elected in Poland (normally, in the event that a Member is found guilty by the court and punished for an intentional, the waiver of their might result in the automatic loss of their eligibility, which would result in turn in the Member losing their seat - which is not the case in Poland for Members of the Sejm and Senat ).

That is why the Parliament encourages the Commission to look at the discrepancies between the legal situation of Members of the European Parliament elected in Poland and that of Members of the Polish Sejm and Senat , and to engage as a matter of urgency in contacts with the competent authorities in Poland with a view to identifying how to eliminate the manifest discrimination between the Members of the two Parliaments as regards their eligibility . Moreover, the Parliament calls on Poland to review the current situation in which conditions of eligibility and loss of mandate of Members of two parliamentary assemblies are clearly unequal.

Furthermore, the Parliament calls on the Commission to carry out a comparative study designed to ascertain whether discrepancies in treatment of Members of national parliaments and Members of the European Parliament exist in the Member States which acceded to the European Union on or after 1 May 2004.

Member States are called upon to:

ensure that procedural measures are put in place in order to ensure that requests for waiver of the immunity of Members of the European Parliament are always transmitted by the "competent authority", in order to guarantee observance of provisions of substantive and procedural national law, including the procedural rights of private persons, as well as Parliament's prerogatives; indicate to Parliament the authorities which are competent to present requests for waiver of a Member's immunity, in order to avoid any doubt.

Lastly, the Parliament reiterates the need for a uniform Statute for Members of the European Parliament and recalls, in this context, the commitment made on 3 June 2005 by the representatives of the Member States meeting within the Council to examine the request by Parliament for a revision of the relevant provisions of the 1965 Protocol on the privileges and immunities of the European Communities as regards the part thereof relating to Members of the European Parliament, in order to reach a conclusion as soon as possible. It therefore calls for equal treatment of Members of the national parliament and Members of the European Parliament to be secured as soon as possible, particularly in view of the coming elections in 2009.

Documents
2009/04/24
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2009/04/02
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
Documents
2009/04/02
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Documents
2009/03/31
   EP - Vote in committee
Details

The Committee on Legal Affairs unanimously adopted the own-initiative report drawn up by Diana WALLIS (ALDE, UK) on parliamentary immunity in Poland, echoing the requests for waiver of the immunity of Members elected in Poland which, in the current parliamentary term, have come up against certain difficulties in the interpretation of provisions of law that might be applicable in the case of those Members.

The report recalls that the admissibility of certain requests for waiver of immunity raises difficult questions (particularly in relation to the issue of the “ competent authority ” responsible for submitting a request for waiver of immunity). The European Parliament’s responsible committee is competent to verify the admissibility of a request for waiver of immunity, including the question of the competence of the national authority to submit such a request. However, however, under the existing provisions the manifest conflict between the relevant provisions of Polish law and the Rules of Procedure in this regard would have to be resolved by considering requests for waiver of immunity by private persons as inadmissible .

The report also highlights the particular situation of Members of the Polish Sejm and Senat who continue to be eligible, even after the waiver of their parliamentary immunity, which, according to the committee, represents an obvious differentiation in treatment between Members of the European Parliament elected in Poland and Members elected in Poland. That is why MEPs encourage the Commission to look at the discrepancies between the legal situation of Members of the European Parliament elected in Poland and that of Members of the Polish Sejm and Senat , and to engage as a matter of urgency in contacts with the competent authorities in Poland with a view to identifying how to eliminate the manifest discrimination between the Members of the two Parliaments as regards their eligibility .

Moreover, MEPs call on the Commission to carry out a comparative study designed to ascertain whether discrepancies in treatment of Members of national parliaments and Members of the European Parliament exist in the Member States which acceded to the European Union on or after 1 May 2004.

Member States are called upon to:

ensure that procedural measures are put in place in order to ensure that requests for waiver of the immunity of Members of the European Parliament are always transmitted by the "competent authority", in order to guarantee observance of provisions of substantive and procedural national law, including the procedural rights of private persons, as well as Parliament's prerogatives; indicate to Parliament the authorities which are competent to present requests for waiver of a Member's immunity, in order to avoid any doubt.

Lastly, MEPs reiterate the need for a uniform Statute for Members of the European Parliament and recall, in this context, the commitment made on 3 June 2005 by the representatives of the Member States meeting within the Council to examine the request by Parliament for a revision of the relevant provisions of the 1965 Protocol on the privileges and immunities of the European Communities as regards the part thereof relating to Members of the European Parliament, in order to reach a conclusion as soon as possible. They therefore call for equal treatment of Members of the national parliament and Members of the European Parliament to be secured as soon as possible, particularly in view of the coming elections in 2009.

2009/02/10
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2008/09/23
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2008/03/26
   EP - WALLIS Diana (ALDE) appointed as rapporteur in JURI

Documents

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

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date
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http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2009-205&language=EN
New
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Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2009-205&language=EN
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New
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activities
  • date: 2008-09-23T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: JURI date: 2008-03-26T00:00:00 committee_full: Legal Affairs rapporteur: group: ALDE name: WALLIS Diana
  • date: 2009-03-31T00:00:00 body: EP committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: JURI date: 2008-03-26T00:00:00 committee_full: Legal Affairs rapporteur: group: ALDE name: WALLIS Diana type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • date: 2009-04-02T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2009-205&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A6-0205/2009 body: EP type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • date: 2009-04-24T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=17081&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2009-316 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T6-0316/2009 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
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  • body: EC dg: Secretariat-General commissioner: BARROSO José Manuel
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rapporteur
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committees/0
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2008-03-26T00:00:00
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Legal Affairs
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docs
  • date: 2009-02-10T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE420.075 title: PE420.075 type: Committee draft report body: EP
  • date: 2009-04-02T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2009-205&language=EN title: A6-0205/2009 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP
events
  • date: 2008-09-23T00:00:00 type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2009-03-31T00:00:00 type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading body: EP summary: The Committee on Legal Affairs unanimously adopted the own-initiative report drawn up by Diana WALLIS (ALDE, UK) on parliamentary immunity in Poland, echoing the requests for waiver of the immunity of Members elected in Poland which, in the current parliamentary term, have come up against certain difficulties in the interpretation of provisions of law that might be applicable in the case of those Members. The report recalls that the admissibility of certain requests for waiver of immunity raises difficult questions (particularly in relation to the issue of the “ competent authority ” responsible for submitting a request for waiver of immunity). The European Parliament’s responsible committee is competent to verify the admissibility of a request for waiver of immunity, including the question of the competence of the national authority to submit such a request. However, however, under the existing provisions the manifest conflict between the relevant provisions of Polish law and the Rules of Procedure in this regard would have to be resolved by considering requests for waiver of immunity by private persons as inadmissible . The report also highlights the particular situation of Members of the Polish Sejm and Senat who continue to be eligible, even after the waiver of their parliamentary immunity, which, according to the committee, represents an obvious differentiation in treatment between Members of the European Parliament elected in Poland and Members elected in Poland. That is why MEPs encourage the Commission to look at the discrepancies between the legal situation of Members of the European Parliament elected in Poland and that of Members of the Polish Sejm and Senat , and to engage as a matter of urgency in contacts with the competent authorities in Poland with a view to identifying how to eliminate the manifest discrimination between the Members of the two Parliaments as regards their eligibility . Moreover, MEPs call on the Commission to carry out a comparative study designed to ascertain whether discrepancies in treatment of Members of national parliaments and Members of the European Parliament exist in the Member States which acceded to the European Union on or after 1 May 2004. Member States are called upon to: ensure that procedural measures are put in place in order to ensure that requests for waiver of the immunity of Members of the European Parliament are always transmitted by the "competent authority", in order to guarantee observance of provisions of substantive and procedural national law, including the procedural rights of private persons, as well as Parliament's prerogatives; indicate to Parliament the authorities which are competent to present requests for waiver of a Member's immunity, in order to avoid any doubt. Lastly, MEPs reiterate the need for a uniform Statute for Members of the European Parliament and recall, in this context, the commitment made on 3 June 2005 by the representatives of the Member States meeting within the Council to examine the request by Parliament for a revision of the relevant provisions of the 1965 Protocol on the privileges and immunities of the European Communities as regards the part thereof relating to Members of the European Parliament, in order to reach a conclusion as soon as possible. They therefore call for equal treatment of Members of the national parliament and Members of the European Parliament to be secured as soon as possible, particularly in view of the coming elections in 2009.
  • date: 2009-04-02T00:00:00 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2009-205&language=EN title: A6-0205/2009
  • date: 2009-04-24T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=17081&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
  • date: 2009-04-24T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2009-316 title: T6-0316/2009 summary: The European Parliament adopted by 384 votes to 3, with 16 abstentions, a resolution on parliamentary immunity in Poland. The resolution echoes several requests for waiver of the immunity of Members elected in Poland which, in the current parliamentary term, have come up against certain difficulties in the interpretation of provisions of law that might be applicable in the case of those Members. The resolution notes the difficulties faced by the Committee on Legal Affairs in terms of the admissibility of certain requests for waiver of immunity made by authorities who are not judged to be competent (the issue here relates to “ the competent authority ” responsible for requesting the waiver of immunity because under Polish law a private person has the right to make a direct request for waiver of immunity, whereas this is not necessarily compatible with the Parliament’s Rules of Procedure). The European Parliament’s responsible committee is competent to verify the admissibility of a request for waiver of immunity, including the question of the competence of the national authority to submit such a request. However, under the existing provisions the manifest conflict in this regard between the relevant provisions of Polish law and the European Parliament Rules of Procedure would have to be resolved by regarding as inadmissible requests for waiver of immunity submitted by private persons . The resolution also highlights the particular situation of Members of the Polish Sejm and Senat who continue to be eligible, even after the waiver of their parliamentary immunity, which, according to the Parliament, represents an obvious differentiation in treatment between Members of the European Parliament elected in Poland and Members elected in Poland (normally, in the event that a Member is found guilty by the court and punished for an intentional, the waiver of their might result in the automatic loss of their eligibility, which would result in turn in the Member losing their seat - which is not the case in Poland for Members of the Sejm and Senat ). That is why the Parliament encourages the Commission to look at the discrepancies between the legal situation of Members of the European Parliament elected in Poland and that of Members of the Polish Sejm and Senat , and to engage as a matter of urgency in contacts with the competent authorities in Poland with a view to identifying how to eliminate the manifest discrimination between the Members of the two Parliaments as regards their eligibility . Moreover, the Parliament calls on Poland to review the current situation in which conditions of eligibility and loss of mandate of Members of two parliamentary assemblies are clearly unequal. Furthermore, the Parliament calls on the Commission to carry out a comparative study designed to ascertain whether discrepancies in treatment of Members of national parliaments and Members of the European Parliament exist in the Member States which acceded to the European Union on or after 1 May 2004. Member States are called upon to: ensure that procedural measures are put in place in order to ensure that requests for waiver of the immunity of Members of the European Parliament are always transmitted by the "competent authority", in order to guarantee observance of provisions of substantive and procedural national law, including the procedural rights of private persons, as well as Parliament's prerogatives; indicate to Parliament the authorities which are competent to present requests for waiver of a Member's immunity, in order to avoid any doubt. Lastly, the Parliament reiterates the need for a uniform Statute for Members of the European Parliament and recalls, in this context, the commitment made on 3 June 2005 by the representatives of the Member States meeting within the Council to examine the request by Parliament for a revision of the relevant provisions of the 1965 Protocol on the privileges and immunities of the European Communities as regards the part thereof relating to Members of the European Parliament, in order to reach a conclusion as soon as possible. It therefore calls for equal treatment of Members of the national parliament and Members of the European Parliament to be secured as soon as possible, particularly in view of the coming elections in 2009.
  • date: 2009-04-24T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
links
other
  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/secretariat_general/index_en.htm title: Secretariat-General commissioner: BARROSO José Manuel
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New
8.40.11
Relations with Member State governments and national parliaments
other/0/dg/title
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Secretariat General
New
Secretariat-General
activities
  • date: 2008-09-23T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: JURI date: 2008-03-26T00:00:00 committee_full: Legal Affairs rapporteur: group: ALDE name: WALLIS Diana
  • date: 2009-03-31T00:00:00 body: EP committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: JURI date: 2008-03-26T00:00:00 committee_full: Legal Affairs rapporteur: group: ALDE name: WALLIS Diana type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • date: 2009-04-02T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2009-205&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A6-0205/2009 body: EP type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • date: 2009-04-24T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=17081&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2009-316 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T6-0316/2009 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
committees
  • body: EP responsible: True committee: JURI date: 2008-03-26T00:00:00 committee_full: Legal Affairs rapporteur: group: ALDE name: WALLIS Diana
links
other
  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/secretariat_general/index_en.htm title: Secretariat General commissioner: BARROSO José Manuel
procedure
dossier_of_the_committee
JURI/6/66778
geographical_area
Poland
reference
2008/2232(INI)
title
Parliamentary immunity in Poland
legal_basis
stage_reached
Procedure completed
subtype
Initiative
type
INI - Own-initiative procedure
subject
8.40.11 Relations with Member State governments and national parliaments