Judgment_paragraph 132 · Robert Roos and Others v European Parliament (T-710/21)

132Lastly, it must be observed that, according to the case-law, the privileges and immunities of the European Union recognised by Protocol No 7 have a purely functional character, inasmuch as they are intended to avoid any interference with the functioning and independence of the European Union. Consequently, those privileges and immunities are granted solely in the interests of the European Union. The same necessarily applies to the immunity of Members of the Parliament: the purpose of that immunity is to avoid any obstacle to the proper functioning of the institution to which they belong, and therefore to the exercise of the powers of that institution (see order of 30 September 2011, Gollnisch v Parliament, T‑346/11 R, not published, EU:T:2011:553, paragraph 23 and the case-law cited). To the same effect, the second sentence of Rule 5(2) of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament provides that ‘parliamentary immunity is not a Member’s personal privilege but a guarantee of the independence of Parliament as a whole, and of its Members’.