Black Day for the European Parliament: Prosecutors Blocked from Investigating Suspected Fraud

The European Parliament has voted not to lift the parliamentary immunity of EPP MEP Angelika Niebler. As a result, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office cannot proceed with its investigation into allegations that the CSU (Bavarian EPP party) co-chair misused EU funds.

Following an initiative by the Greens/EFA Group, Parliament held a secret ballot to allow conservative MEPs to support an investigation without fear of political repercussions.

The secret vote led to a close result — but ultimately not enough to lift Niebler’s immunity.
309 MEPs voted against waiving immunity, while 283 voted in favour. A majority of MEPs thus followed the recommendation put forward by a member of the far-right ESN group.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office is now left with only one option: to challenge the decision before the European Court of Justice in order to enable investigations to proceed.

Daniel Freund, Greens/EFA expert on anti-corruption and rule of law in the European Parliament:

“The credibility of the European Parliament suffered a serious blow today. Instead of allowing the facts to be investigated, a majority of MEPs chose to shield CSU member Angelika Niebler and block prosecutors from doing their work.

This sends a disastrous signal: while ordinary citizens are expected to follow the law without exception, some politicians appear able to violate the rules for years without fearing consequences. That is impossible to explain to the public.

And the fact that corrupt far-right politicians are now protecting conservatives in this vote should be a warning to everyone.”