What changed

PROPOSAL FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECISION

P10_TA(2026)0275

on the requestRequest for the waiver of the immunity of Francisco Assis

(2026/2033(IMM))

Committee on Legal Affairs

PE791.017

European Parliament decision of 15 September 2026 on the request for the waiver of the immunity of Francisco Assis (2026/2033(IMM))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the request for the waiver of the immunity of Francisco Assis, submitted on 18 March 2026 by the criminal investigative judge in Almada, Portugal, belonging to the District Court of Lisbon,Lisbon on 18 March 2026, in connection with an ongoing pretrial judicial investigation concerning Francisco José Pereira de Assis de Miranda (‘Francisco Assis’) and announced in Parliament on 26 March 2026,

– having heard Francisco Assis on 15 July 2026, in accordance with Rule 9(6) of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs (A10-0229/2026),

✦ Wording Shortens the reference to Francisco Assis by using only his surname instead of his full name and the parenthetical form.

A. whereas on 18 March 2026, the criminal investigative judge in Almada, Portugal, belonging to the District Court of Lisbon, submitted a request for the waiver of the immunity of Francisco José Pereira de Assis de Miranda (‘Francisco Assis’),Assis, Member of the European Parliament elected in Portugal, in connection with an alleged offence that took place in 2022;

✦ Wording Rephrases the account of the press release and the alleged defamation, including tense, word order and small wording changes, without altering what the text says.

B. whereas, according to the request, an investigation was initiated following a complaint lodged by a plaintiff alleging that, on 31 March 2022, Francisco Assis, in his capacity as President of the Economic and Social Council of Portugal, allegedly issued a press release in which he maintained that the complainant’s continued presence of the complainant at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of Portugal degradesdegraded the country and flatlywas contradictscontrary theto Government’sthe political position onof the barbaricGovernment of Portugal on the Russian invasion of the sovereign state of Ukraine; whereas Francisco Assis allegedly described the complainant as a ‘collaborator with the autocratic and criminal power installed in the Kremlin’ and asserted that it was ‘imperative, in the interests of national dignity and respect for the martyred Ukrainian people, that measures be taken to address this serious institutional anomaly’; whereas, according to the request, the alleged actionsacts might constitute an offence of aggravated defamation under Article 180(1) of the Portuguese Criminal Code, in conjunction with Article 132(2), point l, and Article 184 thereof; whereas after duly examining the case, the Public Prosecutor’s Office closed the preliminary investigation considering that no offence had been committed by Francisco Assis,Assis as the statements in the press release were made in the context of the right to freedom of expression; whereas it is further noted in the request that both the complainant and Francisco Assis are public figures,figures as they both hold public office as part of Portuguese political life, and, consequently, that they must necessarily be more resilient to criticism; whereas after having been notified of the order to close the case, the complainant requested the nullity of that order and the opening of a pretrial investigation, which would require the waiver of the immunity of Francisco Assis,Assis and is thus the basis for the request received in this regard;

C. whereas the purpose of immunity provided for in Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union 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;

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

✦ Wording Reorders the phrase about the June 2024 European elections without changing its meaning.

E. whereas Francisco Assis was elected to the European Parliament in the European elections in June 2024 European elections and was, therefore, not a Member of the European Parliament at the time of the alleged offence;

F. whereas Article 8 of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union provides that Members of the European Parliament are not to be subject to any form of inquiry, detention or legal proceedings in respect of opinions expressed or votes cast by them in the performance of their duties;

3. No Member of the Assembly of the Republic may be detained, arrested or imprisoned without the Assembly’s authorisation, save for a wilful crime punishable by the type of prison term referred to by the previous paragraph and in flagrante delicto.’;

✦ Wording Drops the word 'constitutionally' before 'enshrined' in the reference to Article 37 of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic.

J. whereas the request specifically indicates that the initial assessment by the Public Prosecutor’s Office was that the statements of Francisco Assis, in his capacity as President of the Economic and Social Council of Portugal, were made in the context of his right to freedom of expression, a fundamental right constitutionally enshrined in Article 37 of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, and whereas the merits of the case are to be determined by the Portuguese judicial authorities in accordance with national law;

✦ Wording Rephrases the description of fumus persecutionis by naming Francisco Assis directly and removing the later repetition of his name.

K. whereas, in this case, Parliament has found no evidence of fumus persecutionis, that is to say it does not appear that the intention underlying the legal proceedings is to damage theFrancisco Assis’ political activity of Francisco Assis as a Member of the European Parliament and thus Parliament’s independence;

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

1. Decides to waive the immunity of Francisco Assis;

2. Instructs its President to forward this decision immediately to the competent authoritiesauthority of the Portuguese Republic and to Francisco Assis.