The Court of Justice of the European Union thereby declared the European Parliament's decision null and void. The judges state that the request provided insufficient guarantees for neutrality.
The case concerns Carles Puigdemont, Antoni Comín, and Clara Ponsatí. In 2021, the Parliament agreed to lift their protection following a request from Spain. In that case, Belgium could cooperate by extraditing them to Madrid.
According to the court, the Parliament did not comply with the principle of impartiality. The criticism was mainly directed at the role of the rapporteur who handled the request from Madrid. Angel Dzhambazki was at the time a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists. That group also included the Spanish far-right party Vox, the major 'driver' of the criminal case.
The court states that a rapporteur with such political ties should have been excluded. The European Parliament should have prevented the appearance of bias in the assessment of the request.
The judges also point to public statements and activities that cast doubt on the rapporteur's neutrality. According to the court, this did not meet the requirements of a fair and impartial procedure.
By annulment, the 2021 decision is reversed and the parliamentary immunity of the Catalan trio is restored. The court emphasizes that the judgement concerns the procedure followed, not the substance of the Spanish criminal cases.
Madrid wants to prosecute the three Catalans because they led the referendum on declaring Catalan independence. The economically strong northeastern Spanish province seeks to secede, but that referendum was considered by Spanish jurists to be unconstitutional.
The article Highest EU Court Restores Immunity of Catalan MEPs originally appeared on IEDE NEWS.