The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the request for waiver of the immunity of Hans-Peter Martin, forwarded on 29 April 2011 by the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office and announced in plenary sitting on 12 May 2011,

–  having heard Hans-Peter Martin on 21 May 2011 in accordance with Rule 7(3) of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to Article 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, 15 and 21 October 2008 and 19 March 2010(1),

–  having regard to the provisions of Article 57 of the Austrian Constitution,

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

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs (A7-0267/2011),

A.  whereas the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office has requested the waiver of immunity of Hans-Peter Martin, Member of the European Parliament, in order to enable the Austrian authorities to conduct the necessary investigations and to take legal action against Hans-Peter Martin, to call for a search of his house or offices, to seize documents and to carry out computer checks or any other electronic searches which may be necessary and to initiate criminal proceedings against Mr Martin on the grounds of misappropriation of party funding or any other legal description that might be given to the alleged offence(s) before the criminal courts having jurisdiction,

B.  whereas the waiver of immunity of Hans-Peter Martin concerns alleged offences related to misappropriation of party funding, covered by Section 2b of the Law on Political Parties,

C.  whereas it is therefore advisable to recommend that parliamentary immunity be waived in the case in question,

1.  Decides to waive the immunity of Hans-Peter Martin;

2.  Instructs its President to forward this decision and the report of its competent committee immediately to the appropriate authorities of the Austrian Republic and to Hans-Peter Martin.

(1) Case 101/63 Wagner v Fohrmann and Krier [1964] ECR 195; Case 149/85 Wybot v Faure and Others [1986] ECR 2391; Case T-345/05 Mote v Parliament [2008] ECR II-2849; Joined Cases C-200/07 and C-201/07 Marra v De Gregorio and Clemente [2008] ECR I-7929; Case T-42/06 Gollnisch v Parliament.