Request for the waiver of the immunity of Salvatore De Meo

P10_TA(2026)0193

Committee on Legal Affairs

PE782.199

European Parliament decision of 16 June 2026 on the request for the waiver of the immunity of Salvatore De Meo (2025/2098(IMM))

– having regard to the request for the waiver of the immunity of Salvatore De Meo, received by letter dated 6 May 2025 from the Belgian Federal Public Service for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, transmitting a request, dated 16 April 2025, from the Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office in connection with criminal proceedings to be instituted against Salvatore De Meo, and announced in Parliament on 21 May 2025,

– having regard to the additional information provided by the Federal Prosecutor and the Investigating Judge during an exchange of views on 15 July 2025, and the reply provided on 18 September 2025 by the Federal Prosecutor following a further written request for information; having regard to the fact that a request for the waiver of a Member’s immunity must meet certain standards, in particular it must be formulated clearly, including with regard to the legal framework on which the request is based, and must provide clear and sufficient elements and information for Parliament to be in a position to examine the request in order to reach a conclusion and to conclude that examination as quickly as possible, also bearing in mind the relative complexity of the case,

– having heard Salvatore De Meo on 3 December 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 and 19 December 2019,

– 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 (A10-0153/2026),

A. whereas on 6 May 2025 the Federal Public Service for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation transmitted a request from the Federal Prosecutor, dated 16 April 2025. for the waiver of the immunity of Salvatore De Meo, a Member of the European Parliament elected in Italy, in connection with criminal proceedings to be instituted against him;

B. whereas a broad investigation concerning the company Huawei allegedly yielded serious evidence of the existence of a criminal organisation whose purpose was allegedly to influence the decisions of the Union institutions by engaging in the corruption of Members of the European Parliament; whereas that investigation appears to have brought to light several acts of alleged corruption presumed to have been committed on a regular basis from 2021 until 2024; whereas the corruption scheme allegedly took various forms, including the invitation of Members of the European Parliament to events supported by Huawei, supposedly in return for taking political positions in favour of that company, and excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches outside the framework of the European Parliament;

C. whereas, according to the request for the waiver of immunity, Salvatore De Meo was invited to a dinner that took place on 25 June 2024 at a restaurant in Brussels and is alleged to have been organised by a representative of Huawei and paid for by that company, and Salvatore De Meo attended the dinner together with seven other persons; whereas various projects in connection with One Health Vision and Huawei were allegedly discussed during the dinner; whereas the acceptance of the payment of the cost of the dinner – the exact amount of which was unknown to the authority requesting the waiver of immunity – does not appear to have been declared by Salvatore De Meo to the European Parliament; whereas, according to the additional information provided by the Federal Prosecutor, Salvatore De Meo allegedly also received a gift during that dinner; whereas, according to the same additional information, Huawei allegedly invested funds in Salvatore De Meo’s constituency in exchange for him publicly taking positive positions in favour of the technological solutions sold by Huawei; whereas, also according to the additional information provided by the Federal Prosecutor, Salvatore De Meo appears in a promotional video for Huawei, praising the merits of the solutions sold by that company as part of the European ‘SMART VILLAGES’ project;

D. whereas it was not until the Federal Prosecutor provided additional information in reply to a written request for further information that it was indicated that the alleged actions of Salvatore De Meo could have amounted to passive public bribery, a criminal offence under Article 246(1) of the Belgian Criminal Code;

E. whereas Salvatore De Meo was re-elected to the European Parliament in the June 2024 European elections and was, therefore, a Member of the European Parliament at the time of the alleged offence;

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

G. whereas the purpose of the parliamentary 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;

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

I. 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; whereas the alleged offence does not concern an opinion expressed or vote cast by Salvatore De Meo in the performance of his duties within the meaning of Article 8 of that Protocol;

J. whereas Article 9, first paragraph, point (b), of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union provides that, during the sessions of the European Parliament, its Members are to enjoy, in the territory of any Member State other than their own, immunity from any measure of detention and from legal proceedings;

K. whereas any conclusion regarding the immunity of Salvatore De Meo needs to be drawn on the basis of the request for the waiver of immunity and on the basis of the information and explanations provided in this case, including the replies given by the Federal Prosecutor, both during the exchange of views and in the additional information provided in writing; whereas there is a flagrant scarcity of concrete elements in the request for the waiver of the immunity; whereas the subsequent oral and written exchanges with the Federal Prosecutor, despite providing information regarding some additional instances of suspicion of alleged wrongdoing, were still not sufficient to disperse the considerable uncertainty as to the request for the waiver of the immunity of Salvatore De Meo;

L. whereas, on the basis of the foregoing, the sum of information presented did not allow Parliament to confidently arrive at a sufficiently informed decision to waive the immunity of Salvatore De Meo; whereas the considerable uncertainty as to the various elements of this case could, moreover, be of such a nature as to indicate the existence of fumus persecutionis;

1. Decides not to waive the immunity of Salvatore De Meo;

2. Instructs its President to forward this decision and the report of its committee responsible immediately to the competent authority of the Kingdom of Belgium and to Salvatore De Meo.