95The protection thus afforded by the Protocol on privileges and immunities to beneficiaries of immunity from legal proceedings is, as noted in paragraph 74 above, functional in scope and therefore relative and does not, in particular, shield them, as the case may be, against any pressure that might be deliberately exerted on them by means of abusive prosecutions for acts which are not carried out by officials or other servants of the European Union in their official capacity. However, it must be borne in mind that, under the principle of sincere cooperation, the Member States are required, under the third subparagraph of Article 4(3) TEU, to facilitate the achievement of the European Union’s tasks and to refrain from any measure which could jeopardise the attainment of the European Union’s objectives. Such pressure would be, as the Advocate General observed, in essence, in point 138 of her Opinion, capable of calling into question the functioning of the EU institutions and, therefore, of jeopardising the achievement of the objectives of the European Union.
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