European Parliament decision of 24 May 2007 on the verification of credentials of Mr Beniamino Donnici (2007/2121(REG))
Date: 2007-05-24
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: European election, European electoral system, Member of the European Parliament, Statute for Members of the Parliament, elective office, objections to an election result

C 102 E/446

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

24.4.2008

Thursday 24 May 2007

P6_TA(2007)0209

Verification of credentials of Mr Beniamino Donnici

European Parliament decision of 24 May 2007 on the verification of credentials of Mr Beniamino
Donnici (2007/2121(REG))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Act of 20 September 1976 concerning the election of the members of the Euro-

pean Parliament by direct universal suffrage (1),

— having regard to Rules 3, 4 and 9 of and Annex I to its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the official communication from the Italian authorities concerning the election to the

European Parliament of Mr Beniamino Donnici,

— having regard to the contestation of

the validity of

the election to the European Parliament of

Mr Beniamino Donnici received from Mr Achille Occhetto on 25 March 2007,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs (A6-0198/2007),

A. whereas paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 7 of the Act of 20 September 1976 enumerate the positions

which are incompatible with membership of the European Parliament,

B. whereas under Rule 9 of the Rules of Procedure and Annex I thereto, Members of the European Parlia-
ment are obliged to make a declaration clearly specifying their professional activities and any other paid
position or activity,

C. whereas Rule 3(5) of the Rules of Procedure states: ‘Where the appointment of a Member is due to the
withdrawal of candidates from the same list, the committee responsible for the verification of creden-
tials shall ensure that such withdrawals have taken place in accordance with the spirit and the letter of
the Act of 20 September 1976 and Rule 4(3)’,

D. whereas national provisions concerning the European electoral procedure must be in keeping with the
fundamental principles of the Community legal system, Community primary law and the spirit and
letter of the Act of 1976; whereas, therefore, the competent national legislative, administrative and
judicial authorities, when applying and/or interpreting their national provisions on the European elec-
toral procedure, cannot fail to take due account of the principles of Community electoral law,

E. whereas the compatibility of Mr Achille Occhetto's withdrawal with the letter and spirit of the Act of
1976 must be evaluated in the light of Article 6 of that Act, which states that Members of the Euro-
pean Parliament ‘shall not be bound by orders or instructions’, thus defining the freedom and indepen-
dence of Members as an authentic key principle,

F. whereas the Statute for Members of the European Parliament (which will be in force from 2009) states
in its Article 2(1) that ‘Members shall be free and independent’, while the second paragraph of the same
‘Agreements concerning the resignation from
article, clearly deriving from the first paragraph, adds:
office of a Member before or at the end of a parliamentary term shall be null and void’,

G. whereas those provisions of the Statute merely spell out the principle of freedom and independence
already contained in the Act of 1976, which are explicitly endorsed by the Statute for the protection of
Parliament and its Members,

(1) OJ L 278, 8.10.1976, p. 5. Act as last amended by Decision 2002/772/EC, Euratom (OJ L 283, 21.10.2002, p. 1).

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H. whereas, although it will not enter into force until the start of the next parliamentary term in 2009, the
Statute for Members of the European Parliament is, as the Community legal system currently stands, an
instrument of primary law, adopted by the European Parliament with the unconditional approval of the
Council and duly published in the Official Journal of the European Union,

Thursday 24 May 2007

I. whereas the European Parliament and the national authorities responsible for implementing and/or
interpreting national provisions on the European electoral procedure must take due account of the
principles and provisions of the Statute for Members and must — among other things, in keeping
with the principle of loyal cooperation established in Article 10 of the EC Treaty — refrain from
adopting measures or provisions that are clearly at odds with that Statute,

J. whereas the principles and provisions of the Statute for Members unquestionably form part of the
principles which are referred to in Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union and on which the
European Union is founded (including the principles of democracy and the rule of law) and which it
must respect as general principles of Community law,

K. whereas the legal scope of Article 6 of the Act of 1976 includes candidates who are officially on a
post-electoral list, this being in Parliament's interest since such candidates are potential Members of the
European Parliament,

L. whereas Mr Achille Occhetto's withdrawal arises from an agreement, made prior to the proclamation of
those elected in the elections to the European Parliament of 12 and 13 June 2004, with the other
member of the list ‘Società civile Di Pietro-Occhetto’, and should therefore be regarded as incompatible
with the letter and spirit of the Act of 1976 and, consequently, as null and void,

M. whereas if Mr Achille Occhetto's withdrawal is to be regarded as null and void, then the mandate of his

successor Beniamino Donnici cannot be justified in law or in fact,

N. whereas, in a decision of 21 July 2006, the Lazio Regional Administrative Tribunal (the court of first
instance in the matter) ruled that Mr Achille Occhetto's withdrawal, made before the proclamation of
the names of those elected, could not be regarded as a withdrawal from his position on the post-
electoral list, on the grounds that respect for the will of the people requires that the election results
cannot be altered, and that it is without effect as regards the adoption of any possible acts of substitu-
tion in cases of incompatibility, loss of civil rights, ineligibility or resignation from an appointment or
position on the part of those originally entitled thereto; whereas it follows that a candidate who does
not wish to take up the position to which he has been elected has the right, where the conditions for
substitution apply, to cancel his own withdrawal with a view to occupying the place to be covered by
means of substitution,

O. whereas the Italian Council of State, in a final judicial ruling, annulled the proclamation of Mr Achille

Occhetto's election to the European Parliament,

P. whereas under Article 12 of the Act of 1976 it is the European Parliament — and the European
Parliament alone — that verifies the credentials of its Members elected by universal suffrage; whereas
this fundamental prerogative of the European Parliament may not be challenged or, still less, invalidated
by a decision adopted by national authorities in clear breach of the relevant rules and principles of
Community law, even if that decision was finally adopted by the supreme judicial body of the relevant
State, as was the case with the ruling of the Italian Council of State that is at issue here; whereas in its
case-law the Court of Justice has confirmed the validity of this prerogative,
including vis-à-vis final
national rulings handed down in breach of Community law, and has found against the State,

Q. whereas Parliament may legitimately both refuse to validate the mandate of Mr Beniamino Donnici and
ignore the decision of the Italian Council of State on the grounds that it contradicts the letter and spirit
of the Act of 1976, thus upholding the mandate of Mr Achille Occhetto;

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Official Journal of the European Union

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24.4.2008

Thursday 24 May 2007

Declares the mandate as Member of the European Parliament of Mr Beniamino Donnici, whose elec-

1.
tion was communicated by the national authorities, to be invalid;

2.

Confirms the validity of the mandate of Mr Achille Occhetto;

Instructs its President to forward this decision to the Italian national authorities, to Mr Beniamino

3.
Donnici and to Mr Achille Occhetto.

P6_TA(2007)0210

Nigeria

European Parliament resolution of 24 May 2007 on the recent elections in Nigeria

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions of the European Union Elec-

tion Observation Mission to the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 23 April 2007,

— having regard to the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and the Code of
Conduct for International Election Observers, commemorated at the United Nations on 27 October
2005,

— having regard to the Commission's communication of 11 April 2000 on EU Election Assistance and

Observation (COM(2000)0191),

— having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the 2007 state and federal elections in Nigeria fell short of basic international and regional

standards for democratic elections and cannot be regarded as credible, free and fair,

B. whereas those elections did not live up to the hopes and expectations of the Nigerian people, who
eagerly engaged in the electoral process and voted under often very difficult circumstances, showing
strong determination to cast their vote and make use of their democratic right despite the atmosphere
of voter insecurity and fear in many areas,

C. whereas the European Union Election Observation Mission concluded that the elections were deeply
flawed due to poor organisation, lack of transparency, widespread procedural irregularities, significant
evidence of fraud, particularly during the result collation process, voter disenfranchisement at different
stages of the process and lack of equal conditions for contestants,

D. whereas, instead of guaranteeing the basic right of citizens to vote freely, the Nigerian Government and
electoral officials actively colluded in the fraud and violence or at least ignored human rights abuses
committed by supporters of the ruling party and others,

E. whereas, on state elections day, polling stations opened very late or not at all, lacked sufficient materi-
als, and had an insufficient number of election officials, most of them without adequate training,

F. whereas secrecy of the ballot was frequently not guaranteed due to the lack of polling booths and poor
layout of polling stations, procedures were not followed correctly, independent monitoring was partially
hampered, and under-age voting was witnessed,

G. whereas EU observers reported irregularities during the counting and collation process, including inci-
dents of disruption, no counting, and discrepancies between results, and polling station results were not
publicly displayed at any level of the election administration throughout the country,