Author: MIL OSI Publisher

Source: European Parliament

AMENDMENTS 001-003
REPORT
on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers following an application from Belgium – EGF/2024/003 BE/Van Hool
(COM(2025)0001 – C10-0056/2025 – 2025/0061(BUD))
Committee on Budgets
Rapporteur: Janusz Lewandowski

Source : © European Union, 2025 – EP

Source: European Parliament

PROPOSAL FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECISION

on the request for waiver of the immunity of Petras Gražulis

(2024/2089(IMM))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the request of the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Lithuania of 16 September 2024 to waive the immunity of Petras Gražulis in connection with criminal proceedings involving him, and communicated in plenary on 24 October 2024,

– having heard Petras Gražulis on 18 March 2025 in accordance with Rule 9(6) of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to Articles 8 and 9 of Protocol No 7 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 21 October 2008, 19 March 2010, 6 September 2011, 17 January 2013, 19 December 2019 and 5 July 2023[1],

– having regard to Article 62 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania,

– having regard to Rule 5(2), Rule 6(1) and Rule 9 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs (A10-0078/2025),

A. whereas, by letter of 16 September 2024, the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Lithuania sent a request for the waiver of the immunity of Petras Gražulis, in connection with an alleged offence under Article 170(2) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania, namely publicly ridiculing a group of people and expressing contempt for them on grounds of their sexual orientation;

B. whereas the application states that Petras Gražulis is accused of publicly making remarks ridiculing, denigrating and humiliating a group of people, and expressing contempt for them on account of their sexual orientation, while in the corridors of the Seimas (parliament) of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter ‘the Seimas’) on 26 May 2022, during a discussion with a cameraman at the end of the Seimas session on the registration of civil unions, which was filmed and broadcast by the media; whereas the offence of which Petras Gražulis – at that time a member of the Seimas – is accused dates back to 2022, the preliminary investigation took place in 2022 and 2023, and the case was referred to the Vilnius Regional Court in January 2024; whereas, at that time, Petras Gražulis enjoyed immunity as a member of the Seimas, but on 16 November 2023 the Seimas gave its consent to criminal proceedings being brought against him;

C. whereas Petras Gražulis was elected to the European Parliament in the European elections in June 2024 and was not a Member of the European Parliament at the time of the alleged offence;

D. whereas the alleged offence and the subsequent request for waiver of his immunity are not related to an opinion expressed or a vote cast by Petras Gražulis in the performance of his duties within the meaning of Article 8 of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union;

E. whereas Article 9 subparagraph 1(a) of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union states that Members of the European Parliament enjoy, in the territory of their own state, the immunities accorded to members of the parliament of that state;

F. whereas, under Article 62 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, ‘[t]he person of a Member of the Seimas shall be inviolable. A Member of the Seimas may not be held criminally liable, arrested, nor may his freedom be otherwise restricted without the consent of the Seimas. A Member of the Seimas may not be persecuted for his voting or his speeches at the Seimas. However, he may be held liable according to the general procedure for personal insult or slander’;

G. whereas the purpose of parliamentary immunity is to protect Parliament and its Members from legal proceedings in relation to activities carried out in the performance of parliamentary duties and which cannot be separated from those duties;

H. whereas, in accordance with Rule 5(2) of the Rules of Procedure, parliamentary immunity is not a personal privilege of the Member but a guarantee of the independence of Parliament as a whole and of its Members;

I. whereas, in this case, Parliament has found no evidence of fumus persecutionis, namely factual elements indicating that the intention underlying the legal proceeding may be to damage the Member’s political activity in her capacity as a Member of the European Parliament;

J. whereas Parliament cannot assume the role of a court, and whereas, in a waiver of immunity procedure, a Member cannot be regarded as a defendant[2];

1. Decides to waive the immunity of Petras Gražulis;

2. Instructs its President to forward this decision and the report of its committee responsible immediately to the competent authorities of the Republic of Lithuania and to Petras Gražulis.

 

ANNEX: ENTITIES OR PERSONS  FROM WHOM THE RAPPORTEUR HAS RECEIVED INPUT

The rapporteur declares under her exclusive responsibility that she did not receive input from any entity or person to be mentioned in this Annex pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure.

 

INFORMATION ON ADOPTION IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

 

 

Source: European Parliament

PROPOSAL FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECISION

on the request for waiver of the immunity of Petr Bystron

(2024/2047(IMM))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the request for waiver of the immunity of Petr Bystron, received by letter dated 27 August 2024 from the German Federal Ministry of Justice, transmitting a request of 23 July 2024 from the Munich Public Prosecutor, in connection with criminal proceedings underway at the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office, and announced in plenary on 16 September 2024,

– having heard Petr Bystron on 13 February 2025, in accordance with Rule 9(6) of its Rules of Procedure, and having regard to the documents submitted by him,

– having regard to Articles 8 and 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 the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 21 October 2008, 19 March 2010, 6 September 2011, 17 January 2013, 19 December 2019 and 5 July 2023[1],

– having regard to Article 46 of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany,

– having regard to Rule 5(2), Rule 6(1) and Rule 9 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs (A10-0077/2025),

A. whereas the Munich Public Prosecutor has requested the waiver of the parliamentary immunity of Petr Bystron, Member of the European Parliament, in connection with the charges brought against him pursuant to Article 108(1), Article 261(1)(2), Article 261(7), Article 263(1) and Article 263(3)(1) of the German Criminal Code, Article 370(1) of the German General Tax Code and Article 53 of the German Criminal Code, concerning alleged offences of at least six counts of passive corruption, money laundering and fraud, and at least five counts of tax evasion;

B. whereas the request for waiver of immunity states that, from an unspecified time in 2020, Peter Bystron may, inter alia, have received cash payments in person or received cryptocurrency transfers from the operator of the pro-Russian website ‘Voice of Europe’ in return for his commitment to speak and vote, as a member of the national parliament, in the interests of the Russian Government; whereas Peter Bystron reportedly deposited considerable sums in an ATM on 17 and 20 March 2023 into an account belonging to the company of which he is the sole shareholder and manager; whereas on 20 March 2023, he then withdrew the same amount in denominations of EUR 200 from an ATM of the same bank; whereas, in response to a request from the bank, Petr Bystron provided no explanation as to the reason for these suspicious movements; whereas Petr Bystron also deposited several sums in July 2021, April 2022, September 2022, and in June and July 2023 from the alleged bribes he received in cash; whereas Petr Bystron reportedly tried to conceal the origin of the cash; whereas the Public Prosecutor has transaction records of all the accounts of Petr Bystron and the company, of which he is the sole shareholder and manager, from 2020 onwards; whereas this has reportedly made it possible to detect further cash payments and to conclude that bribes that he allegedly received at an earlier point in time did in fact exist;

C. whereas in several deliberations of the national parliament, of which Petr Bystron was a member at the time of the alleged facts, on Russia-related issues, he has, since 2022, reportedly voted in a manner clearly most favourable to the interests of the Russian Government and has given at least two speeches before the German Bundestag in which he defended a pro-Russian position;

D. whereas Petr Bystron, who was entitled, under the German Law on Members of Parliament, to a flat-rate allowance intended, inter alia, to recruit staff, is said to have entered into an employment contract with his lawyer in October 2021 and to have also agreed to five amendments to that contract, each altering the weekly working hours and monthly salary of his lawyer; whereas the flat-rate allowance may be used only if the intended purpose or the activities concerned have a sufficient connection with the exercise of the mandate; whereas the work carried out under that contract did not relate to the exercise of the parliamentary mandate or the work expected was not carried out, but remuneration was paid nonetheless as a result of having misled the staff member in charge of authorising the payment; whereas this remuneration is said to have led the Federal Republic of Germany to incur a loss in the amount of EUR 97 400.00;

E. whereas in the financial years 2017 to 2021, Petr Bystron, through the tax advisor of the company of which he is the sole shareholder and manager, is said to have submitted incorrect VAT returns to the Munich tax authorities, containing private expenditure that has no connection with that company’s commercial activity; whereas, as a result of this incorrect information on the VAT returns, an undue refund of VAT totalling EUR 9 949.17 was reportedly paid;

F. whereas Petr Bystron was elected to the European Parliament in the European elections in 2024 in Germany and was not a Member of the European Parliament at the time of the alleged offences;

G. whereas the alleged offences and the subsequent request for waiver of his immunity are not related to an opinion expressed or a vote cast by Petr Bystron in the performance of his duties within the meaning of Article 8 of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union;

H. whereas Article 9, first paragraph, point (a) of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union provides that Members of the European Parliament enjoy, in the territory of their own State, the immunities accorded to members of their parliament;

I. whereas Article 46(2), (3) and (4) of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany provides that:

‘(2)  A Member may not be called to account or arrested for a punishable offence without permission of the Bundestag unless he is apprehended while committing the offence or in the course of the following day.

(3)  The permission of the Bundestag shall also be required for any other restriction of a Member’s freedom of the person or for the initiation of proceedings against a Member under Article 18.

(4)  Any criminal proceedings or any proceedings under Article 18 against a Member and any detention or other restriction of the freedom of his person shall be suspended at the demand of the Bundestag’;

J. whereas the purpose of parliamentary immunity is to protect Parliament and its Members from legal proceedings in relation to activities that are carried out in the performance of parliamentary duties and that cannot be separated from those duties;

K. whereas in accordance with Rule 5(2) of the Rules of Procedure, parliamentary immunity is not a personal privilege of the Member but a guarantee of the independence of Parliament as a whole and of its Members;

L. whereas, in this case, Parliament found no evidence of fumus persecutionis, which is to say factual elements indicating that the intention underlying the legal proceedings in question is to undermine the Member’s political activity in his capacity as a Member of the European Parliament;

M. whereas Parliament cannot assume the role of a court and whereas, in a waiver of immunity procedure, a Member cannot be regarded as a defendant[2];

1. Decides to waive the immunity of Petr Bystron;

2. Instructs its President to forward this decision and the report of its committee responsible immediately to the competent authority of the Federal Republic of Germany and to Petr Bystron.

 

 

ANNEX: ENTITIES OR PERSONS FROM WHOM THE RAPPORTEUR HAS RECEIVED INPUT

The rapporteur declares under her exclusive responsibility that she did not receive input from any entity or person to be mentioned in this Annex pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure.

 

 

INFORMATION ON ADOPTION IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

 

 

Source: European Parliament

In light of the current geopolitical situation, and in response to the growing issue of medicine shortages in the EU, on 11 March 2025 the European Commission put forward a proposal for a regulation on a critical medicines act. The proposed regulation seeks to strengthen the availability of critical medicines in the EU and the security of supply of these medicines by reducing the dependency on single suppliers and third countries and boosting pharmaceutical manufacturing in the EU. It also aims to improve access to certain medicines of common interest that encounter market failures. The proposal, which complements the ongoing revision of the pharmaceutical legislation and the enhanced role of the European Medicines Agency in managing shortages, contributes to the European health union’s goal of ensuring that all EU patients have access to the medicines they need, wherever they are and whenever they need them. Going beyond public health, the proposal is about security and resilience. By securing stable and reliable medicine supply chains, the EU is expected to be able to improve its preparedness and strengthen its overall security. The proposal is also one of the actions set out in the competitiveness compass published by the Commission in January 2025.

Source: European Parliament

AMENDMENTS 063-072
REPORT
on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2023, Section III – Commission, executive agencies and the ninth, tenth and eleventh European Development Funds
(2024/2019(DEC))
Committee on Budgetary Control
Rapporteur: Niclas Herbst

Source : © European Union, 2025 – EP

Source: European Parliament

AMENDMENTS 091-091
REPORT
on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2023, Section III – Commission, executive agencies and the ninth, tenth and eleventh European Development Funds
(2024/2019(DEC))
Committee on Budgetary Control
Rapporteur: Niclas Herbst

Source : © European Union, 2025 – EP

Source: European Parliament

AMENDMENTS 007-008
REPORT
on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2017/1938 as regards the role of gas storage for securing gas supplies ahead of the winter season
(COM(2025)0099 – C10-0041/2025 – 2025/0051(COD))
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
Rapporteur: Borys Budka

Source : © European Union, 2025 – EP

Source: European Parliament

REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Defence Industry Programme and a framework of measures to ensure the timely availability and supply of defence products (‘EDIP’)
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
Committee on Security and Defence
François-Xavier Bellamy, Raphaël Glucksmann

Source : © European Union, 2025 – EP

Source: European Parliament

AMENDMENTS 014-023
REPORT
on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2023, Section III – Commission, executive agencies and the ninth, tenth and eleventh European Development Funds
(2024/2019(DEC))
Committee on Budgetary Control
Rapporteur: Niclas Herbst

Source : © European Union, 2025 – EP

Source: European Parliament 2

AMENDMENTS 002-005
REPORT
on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2017/1938 as regards the role of gas storage for securing gas supplies ahead of the winter season
(COM(2025)0099 – C10-0041/2025 – 2025/0051(COD))
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
Rapporteur: Borys Budka

Source : © European Union, 2025 – EP