The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the request for waiver of the immunity of Tamás Deutsch, forwarded by the Hungarian judicial authorities on 9 June 2010 and announced in plenary sitting on 8 July 2010,

–  having heard Tamás Deutsch in accordance with Rule 7(3) of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to Articles 8 and 9 of the Protocol of 8 April 1965 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union, and Article 6(2) of the Act of 20 September 1976 concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage,

–  having regard to the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 12 May 1964, 10 July 1986 and 21 October 2008(1),

–  having regard to Section 10(2) of Act LVII of 2004 on the legal status of Hungarian Members of the European Parliament, Section 5(1) of Act LV of 1990 on the legal status of Members of the Hungarian Parliament and Section 12(1) of Act LVII of 2004,

–  having regard to Rules 6(2) and 7 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs (A7-0015/2011),

A.  whereas criminal proceedings have been brought by a Hungarian citizen against Tamás Deutsch, a Member of the European Parliament, who is accused in the Court of the 2nd and 3rd Districts of Budapest of defamation under Section 179(2)(b-c) of the Hungarian Criminal Code,

B.  whereas, according to Article 9 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union, during the sessions of the European Parliament its Members enjoy in the territory of their own State the immunities accorded to members of their parliament; whereas immunity cannot be claimed when a Member is caught in the act of committing an offence; and whereas this does not prevent the European Parliament from exercising its right to waive the immunity of one of its Members,

C.  whereas, according to Section 10(2) of Act LVII of 2004 on the legal status of Hungarian Members of the European Parliament, a Member of the European Parliament is accorded the same immunity as a Member of the Hungarian Parliament,

D.  whereas according to Section 5(1) of Act LV of 1990 on the legal status of Members of the Hungarian Parliament, criminal proceedings may be launched or pursued against the Member only with the prior consent of the Hungarian Parliament and pursuant to Section 12(1) of Act LVII of 2004 the European Parliament shall decide on the suspension of the immunity of a Member of the European Parliament,

E.  whereas Mr Deutsch is charged with an offence of defamation allegedly committed as a result of statements made about the accuser in the course of a radio programme broadcast on 25 March 2010 to which he was invited in his capacity as a politician and a Member of the European Parliament,

F.  whereas it is therefore appropriate to state that Mr Deutsch expressed opinions in the performance of his duties as the Member of the European Parliament,

1.  Decides not to waive the immunity of Tamás Deutsch;

2.  Instructs its President to forward this decision and the report of its competent committee immediately to the appropriate authority of the Republic of Hungary.

(1) Case 101/63 Wagner v Fohrmann and Krier [1964] ECR 195, Case 149/85 Wybot v Faure and Others [1986] ECR 2391 and Joined Cases C-200/07 and C-201/07 Marra v De Gregorio and Clemente, not yet reported in the European Court Reports.