The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the request of 9 July 2012 from the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office for waiver of the immunity of Ewald Stadler in connection with an investigation procedure, as announced in the plenary sitting of 10 September 2012,

–  having heard Ewald Stadler on 20 February 2013 in accordance with Rule 7(3) of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to Article 9 of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union, and to 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 Article 57 of the Austrian Bundesverfassungsgesetz (Federal Constitutional Law),

–  having regard to the judgments of 12 May 1964, 10 July 1986, 15 and 21 October 2008, 19 March 2010 and 6 September 2011 of the Court of Justice of the European Union(1),

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

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs (A7-0120/2013),

A.  whereas the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested the waiver of the immunity of Ewald Stadler, Member of the European Parliament, in order to enable the Austrian authorities to conduct the necessary investigations and to take legal action against Ewald Stadler;

B.  whereas the waiver of Ewald Stadler’s immunity concerns alleged offences of attempted aggravated coercion under Sections 15, 105(1) and 106(1)(1) of the Austrian Criminal Code, and the offence of perjury under Section 288(1) of the Criminal Code;

C.  whereas under Article 9 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union, Members of the European Parliament enjoy in the territory of their own state the immunities accorded to members of their parliament;

D.  whereas, under Article 57(2) of the Austrian Federal Constitutional Law, members of the National Council (Nationalrat) may only be arrested on the grounds of a criminal offence with the consent of the National Council – except where they are caught in the act of committing a crime – and whereas searches of the houses of members of the National Council likewise require the consent of the National Council; whereas, further to Article 57(3) of the Austrian Federal Constitutional Law, no official action on account of a punishable offence may be taken against members of the National Council without the National Council’s consent unless that offence is manifestly not connected with the political activity of the member in question and whereas, under that provision, the authority concerned must seek a decision from the National Council as to whether such a connection exists, where this is so requested by the member in question or one third of the members of the appropriate standing committee;

E.  whereas Ewald Stadler’s immunity must be waived if the investigations against him are to proceed;

F.  whereas Ewald Stadler has been a Member of the European Parliament since 7 December 2011;

G.  whereas the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office has been carrying out investigations against Ewald Stadler since March 2010;

H.  whereas Article 9 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union and Article 57 of the Austrian Bundesverfassungsgesetz (Federal Constitutional Law) do not preclude the waiver of Ewald Stadler’s immunity;

I.  whereas it is therefore advisable that parliamentary immunity be waived in the case in question;

1.  Decides to waive the immunity of Ewald Stadler;

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 Ewald Stadler.

(1) Judgment of 12 May 1964 in Case 101/63, Wagner v Fohrmann and Krier (ECR 1964, p. 195); judgment of 10 July 1986 in Case 149/85, Wybot v Faure and others (ECR 1986, p. 2403); judgment of 15 October 2008 in Case T-345/05, Mote v Parliament (ECR 2008, p. II-2849); judgment of 21 October 2008 in Joined Cases C-200/07 and C-201/07, Marra v De Gregorio and Clemente (ECR 2008, p. I-7929); judgment of 19 March 2010 in Case T-42/06, Gollnisch v Parliament (ECR 2010, p. II-1135); judgment of 6 September 2011 in Case C-163/10, Patriciello (ECR 2011, p. I-7565).