The Committee on Legal Affairs adopted the report by Evelyn REGNER (S&D, AT), and unanimously recommended that the European Parliament waive the immunity of Georgios KYRTSOS (EPP, EL).

Members recalled that the Prosecutor’s Office at the Supreme Court of Greece has requested the waiver of the immunity of Georgios Kyrtsos, Member of the European Parliament, in connection with possible legal action concerning an alleged offence. The accusation relates to non-payment by Mr Kyrtsos of part of the 2013 salary of a former employee of two newspaper publishing firms, of which Georgios Kyrtsos was the manager at the time.

Noting that the alleged offence clearly has nothing to do with the office of Georgios Kyrtsos as a Member of the European Parliament but is rather connected to his former position as manager of two newspaper firms, Members considered that the prosecution does not concern opinions expressed or votes cast in the performance of the duties of the Member of the European Parliament in question for the purposes of Article 8 of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union.

Consequently, the committee found that there is no reason to suspect that the intention underlying criminal proceedings is to damage a Member’s political activity (fumus persecutionis), given that the prosecution was initiated a number of years before the Member took up his post.

In the light of these considerations, the committee recommended that Parliament waive the immunity of Georgios Kyrtsos.